I believe I will probably be in the minority here - Very first impression. Might change with some time.
I watched the three previous movies leading up to this one. I liked the two Godzilla movies but did not like Kong: Skull island (mainly because of the writing) - I did very much like both the characters of Godzilla and Kong.
Now for this movie. Hmm well I liked some things about it... but there are many things that I unfortunately did not.
Firstly for the plot... maybe you shouldn’t expect anything from the plot of a movie like this but still a huge weakness, extremely predictable from the middle of the 1st act up until the end. It feels like a missed opportunity. And the whole Hollow Earth subplot...
Secondly, for the human characters. As a whole very mediocre. The trio following Kong I thought, were at least somewhat well executed, especially the little girl. You can get invested in the “mother/daughter” relationship and the girl’s bond to Kong, it works. On the other hand, the trio following Apex really fell short for me. Story wise, character wise and even in some scenes, acting wise. A lot of flaws... I’ve seen all 3 of the actors in other things I liked so I’m assuming it’s not their fault.
Now for our two big friends - Kong works, and he’s about the only thing in this movie that is actually developed to any meaningful extent. Godzilla on the other hand feels like a somewhat different character than in the other movies. He seemed ancient, wise and protecting before.
Now for the fight between mom and dad... this is just my opinion and maybe I’m biased because I just don’t like seeing two characters I really like fighting each other... This film falls into some of the same pitfalls that BVS did for me. “What is the point?” - When I watched some of the fight scenes in the trailer I thought it looked awesome and was looking foirward to the fight but in the film it just fell flat for me. In my opinion, the ultimate fight before the team up came too late in the movie. By the time it comes we know that Godzilla hasn’t just “gone bad” (which was expected) and that he has a good reason for wanting to destroy what Apex is building. So by that point we’re just basically watching the two “good guys” beating the shit out of each other. It takes away from the "Epicness" of the fight because at this point I don't want to see them fight anymore and I'm just thinking "Team up already" - The team up is good and I enjoyed it but it's completely expected from the beginning of the second act, and by the time it actually comes, it feels too late. If you want to have that huge fight in HK, have it in the middle of the movie and then have the last act being them coming together to defeat the mecha. The way it is now makes that fight feel uninteresting because there is no point to it. They’re just hurting each other for no reason. Because of this, I actually preferred the first fight when they’re in the sea.
It’s a great spectacle of course with great special effects but without a good reason or a plot, what are the stakes or the reason to get invested?
As a whole I do like this universe and I do hope they continue making more movies, hopefully a little more character driven next time.
Cheesy and stupid all the way through. Not the monster parts that much but definitely the human parts. They cast Godzilla as more of a villain than he needed to be. The technology is silly and completely unrealistic in advancement after a few years from the previous ones. Maybe a few decades. The movie is less serious than the previous ones and it's to it's detriment.
I thought the deaf human girl and her connection with Kong was annoying. But i guess it did help to connect more with things.
Annoying human characters as always in these movies. This might be the worst human parts in the franchise. And annoying podcast and conspiracy shit that's been a trope in recent movies. Annoyingly stupid human characters. Annoying unrealistic Kong humanizing behavior.
What is with the stupid annoying trope of oh the male lead is dumb, oafish, cowardly clown. But the main female is strong and normal. But let's make the main male lead buffoonish and a bit of an asshole.
First major fight is on an aircraft carrier. So very limited space. And it's in an ocean. Just... no. But the fight was still kinda fun.
Size of the monsters is done better in previous movies.
Not much action really, at least for most of the film. Especially not much Godzilla vs Kong for most of the film. A few minutes in the first half of the film!/one sequence!
Stupid mecha godzilla. Although it's not much of a spoiler since it's built up from the beginning.
At least the fights were fun near the end of the film.
Cool fight sequences in the second half.
Absolutely stupid film though. The human parts were awful and most could have been cut out.
Maybe better than Gozilla 2014. I think so. But not better than King of the Monsters and definitely not Skull Island.
One more chapter in Legendary Entertainment's big, loud, computer-generated monster movie blowout, finally pitting cinema's two best-known behemoths in a rematch of their 1962 rubber suit showdown. The long and short of it is, Godzilla vs. Kong is exactly what you think it is, but also not quite what the three preceding installments might have led you to hope for. Those films contained several unique, essential pieces of a great monster movie, but couldn’t quite bring them all together in the same place. This effort may have scattered them to the ends of the Earth.
While Godzilla '14 suffered from too much dusty orange, brown and grey, sacrificing spectacle for aura, that also gave it a unique air of mystery and a personal, street-level point of view. The big guy was a force of nature, neither good nor evil, often experienced as little more than a distant rumble through the clouds and clutter of so many toppled skyscrapers. Skull Island and King of the Monsters moved in pop-friendlier directions, granting a better view of the action, while also leaning on pure entertainment value and top-notch creative direction. This new model represents a continuation of that slide into crowd-pleasing razzle dazzle, delivering nearly two hours of curious neon lights, spit-flinging alpha roars, window-shattering concussions and flashy pin-up moments, but it's increasingly limited in most other respects.
We get the fight, all right, and kudos for having the resolve to actually depict a winner after two rounds, but the big visuals aren't half as epic as the full-blown elemental fury seen in KotM, nor as ferociously intense as Kong's last solo flick. Both headliners move with a surprising lack of magnitude, swinging ten-story haymakers that land like stiff jabs, not earthquakes. We see so much casual collateral damage that forty-floor buildings become a mere inconvenience, minor hazards that spray black soot as they're toppled over. They might as well be made of cardboard, just like the old days.
The nonsensical story elements fare no better. Not that this is a particular strength for previous chapters, or even for a vast majority of similar films. Godzilla vs. Kong is a bad example of storytelling amidst a genre that's renowned for bad storytelling. It's stuffed with cryptic lore, clichéd character archetypes, bone-headed decisions, mindless pseudo-science, telegraphed plot developments... a full bucket of hogwash that made me feel like a moron for paying attention. Kong's ancestral homeland is the worst such offense, a landscape so fundamentally stupid and conceptually flawed that I couldn't stop shaking my head, puzzling over its many gaping, mind-numbing inconsistencies. Godzilla is painted as villain right from the start, which takes all the fun out of picking sides and rooting for your favorite among friends.
Listen, I'm not trying to be hard-to-please here. I don't need any sort of spiritual or philosophical revelation in the midst of my giant ape vs. lizard skirmishes, but I also expect a little bit more respect than this. I'll suspend my disbelief as long as you don't insult my intelligence. And, despite the visceral thrills of those fleeting headline bouts, this fails the litmus test.
I know I'm going to be in the minority when I say this, but let the Monsterverse end here. I don't mean that in the way that, I hate these movies. Exact opposite, King Of The Monsters is my second favorite film of 2019. But given the history of cinematic universes (MCU), the Toho Godzilla series, and the current situation of the Monsterverse, I would rather see this little series end as a trilogy of sorts, discounting Kong Skull Island, and let it stay a self contained epic that completes all it's arcs over the three Godzilla films it currently has. I wouldn't want them to (((drudge))) this out, change it up to be more mass appealing, and lose the spark the series currently has. Legendary currently has the option to keep making Godzilla films as long as they want so long as they renew the license, Toho would let them. But given the financial returns, I don't think that'll happen. They're going to release this early in China, get some money back on their investment, and release it for the fans that still like this stuff. Neutering it down is the last thing I'd want and I'd rather it end now. I know you all would disagree, but end it on this "high note."
EDIT: Fuck, this didn't age well at all.
The human characters are basically useless. None of them really matter at any point. Well, one could argue that the latino Elon Musk bad guy has an influence on the plot, maybe the mute girl a tiny bit.. All the others are entirely irrelevant.
Were there already here in the previous movies ? Are there any returning character and/or actors ? I don't have a clue. It seems we're kinda supposed to know them, but I got no recollection whatsoever, except Kyle Chandler's, that is barely seen for 3 minutes in the whole movie here despite having a position that seems like he should have been involved.
His daughter, played by Brown could have been an interesting character, but again, doing her own things just to place her where needed to be a passive witness. Skarsgard's character is insufferable. Brown's friend is even worse. I can only imagine he's been put there to make a hacker meta joke with his only action in the movie being "What if I can guess the password ?". Was it worth it ? No.
The actual Godzilla vs Kong part was not that great, probably as it was designed to satisfy fans of both and so the winner's victory is a bit disappointing. However the both of them vs Mechagodzilla (apparently possessed by Ghidorah) was pretty fun.
As for the whole Hollow Earth part, wow. The constant pseudo scientific bullshit is exhausting. Inverting gravity ? Really ?
And the shock getting there is so violent that it instantly flattened the previous expedition. Well, let's go ith entirely untested new aircraft, and let's bring in an 8 year old on board. Wtf.
What happens inside is worse. Apparently there are advanced technological remains there that recognize Kong's bloodline and even give him a specially designed weapon. On one hand, lol, why not. But on the other where the hell does that come from ? It's totally out of line with everything they tried to build into a franchise.
So on the franchise building part, there's a not too bad try, to try to build something, to merge the universes and create a common background. BUT.
1) Without interesting and recognizable human characters in the middle, the link is very tenuous.
2) They used so many in a too fast way in the previous Godzilla movie.
3) Trying to put an origin place and another world is not bad, but this Hollow Earth thing is so bullshit.
4) The whole "There are Titans fighting each other for supremacy" is a nice try too. But this is a primal fight between a few apex organisms. This is fundamentally incompatible with a civilization, and so with the evolution of any kind of technology like what is shown there.
And since the whole concept is very similar to Chinese Gu poison pot, this means there should be at least a super Alpha Titan in Hollow Earth (and probably a few very strong left). So why would a (probably very degenerate Kong compared to its ancestors) be a King there ? Even more like a prophetic one that it looks the whole world was waiting for ? Even more when we see that he is not even the strongest Titan on regular Earth. Spoiler: there will surely be a strong threat revealed in a next movie.
There was real franchise potential, but it seems crazy to me how we're already 15 years after Iron Man, and after so many trying to surf on and copy Marvel franchise building, not a single one managed even a weak half-assed job at it. They're really all shit.
Note: After catching up on what happened in the others:
1) Humans had a bit more important role. But no real recurring characters.
2) The "Titans are healing the Earth" thing has been abandoned.
3) The other Titans were not all killed but bowed to Godzilla at the end, where are they now ?
=> So yeah, I stand with the comments on franchise building.
So, this is the first movie I watched in Cinema since, well early 2020? Or even late 2019. But who counts in the time of Covid?
I generally enjoy the Monsterverse movies for what they are, mindless spectacle, wrapped in some nice CGI, with big monsters punching each other. It’s fun. It’s not supposed to be anything more. So, I don’t go into these movies and expect a great story or characters with actual depth. That being said, I found Kong: Skull Island and Godzilla: King of Monsters vastly more entertaining than this one.
I mean it delivered when it actually showed Godzilla and Kong fighting. Even with the obvious cop out we all suspected thanks to the not so subtle trailer.
The human characters were unnecessary as always, but hey at least Alexander Skarsgard was nice to look at.
What really bothered me this time around was the amount of time spent with the human characters (gladly an issue all these films have) and this time we have two different set of "teams" one for Kong and one for Godzilla. Team Kong was fine, even though I can’t stand the trope of overly precious child characters, but oh my God was Millie Bobby Brown‘s Madison annoying in this one. Her ragtag group of Godzilla loving conspiracy theorists was not only unnecessary and only existed for exposition, they also take title for most annoying human supporting characters any of these movies have ever seen.
Well, at least they mentioned Roswell. So, Godzilla vs SpaceGodzilla next?
EDIT: It has now been revealed the original film/script was radically different, longer, and explained many of my issues presented in this review. Studios, stop butchering your films to be more palatable to audiences.
This is what happens when the people who say, "Godzilla movies don't need to have good human stories," get their way. Easily one of the weakest Godzilla films ever made and the worst of this series. You're not a fan of this franchise if you say Godzilla movies don't need story. Every one so far has had an interesting enough script to justify it's monster bits, even the worst Showa or Heisei outings do more. It's not even really sure what it wants to be. Kong is propped up as the hero and clearly the protagonist of this story with Gojira making cameos as he hunts the organization Apex, but then Kong just loses anyways. What purpose is there for even setting up these monsters as sympathetic when all writing and soul is tossed out the minute they start brawling in Hong Kong. It actually forgets humans exist for a good four minutes as these two punching bags throttle around neon buildings. Craft is gone, it turns into The Avengers, with barely any collateral damage. "Oh but, you can follow the journey through the monsters! You don't need humans to have that nuance." Oh really? Godzilla doesn't like Kong being off his island, he puts him in his place, story done. Talk about deep. No moments to breath or for a character to properly react. This is hot off the heels of King of the Monsters, a film that continues the themes of Skull Island and Gareth Edward's Godzilla. Dougherty's outing before this deeply explored the themes of what it means to live with these monsters on Earth. How do you continue living when a relative of yours has been taken at the hands of one of them, do you shut yourself off or do you try to change the world? Emma became essentially so riddled with guilt she released the devil on Earth. How are these monsters really not so different from us, considering they were birthed out of our own arrogant, persistent lust for control over this world. It's too much to get in to, but that film dealt a great deal with overcoming grief, putting your faith in God, coexistence, and forgiveness. Mark's scene where he looks in to Godzilla's eyes and finally restores his faith is one of my favorite moments from this series. There is nothing in Godzilla vs. Kong that could be remotely construed as a plot. Charles Dance's role has been replaced for some reason, we have a wacky podcast conspiracy guy that serves as just a walking prop for the viewer to see world explanations, Kyle Chandler as Mark has been reduced to a cameo, and on that note: Why is he working at Monarch? He consistently hated Godzilla until he had a change of heart and faith by virtue of Serizawa and Mothra. Monarch didn't change to the good guy, they're still an organization on the cusp of lawsuit and government shutdown. Would GvK mind explaining that for us? How and when was Apex formed? How is it possible the creation of MechaGodzilla never leaked out? The world has been introduced to the titans. It's plainly established everyone is obsessed with these things, the internet and news won't shut up about them. The government doesn't know this is how Apex is using their power supply? In '14, it's at least explained their research on the MUTO was a government cover up for Monarch, that's why Joe in that film became a crackpot theorist who wouldn't let the nuclear incident go. But it's not 2013 anymore, the creatures are no longer a big secret. In King of the Monsters, the people unleashing Ghidorah to rival Godzilla are small band of eco-terrorists, they aren't a multi-billion dollar corporation. It makes no sense and done so much more poorly. It's rushed and done with quips. The most we ever get in terms of world building is a single shot of a map and newspapers, talking about the UN vetoing Godzilla or Apex facilities springing up across the map. We don't hear internal communication or even have a Senate scene like in this last film. The world has simultaneously been expanded greatly and shrunken to nothing, something Pacific Rim Uprising also horrifically accomplished. This series was built off the foundation of engaging with this science fiction, government monster universe through the lens of a sympathetic every-man that's been hurt by the monsters in some way, usually a familial death. Dr. Nathan Lind is given two words to establish he lost a brother in the Hollow Earth, but nothing ever comes of that information. Humans? There are storytelling devices used to get the audience from scene to scene. In the same span of runtime, from '14 to this, Bryan Cranston is grieving over his dying wife, to this has a fat guy making jokes about toasters. The most amount of interesting character development are thrown away in two very specific pieces of dialogue. The little native girl's family was killed by the storm surrounding skull island, which we saw in Kong's film, as was the whole island wiped out. I imagine there was a sequence that explored this and able to give a more tragic or perhaps resounding, uplifting message of sticking with family even when you've suffered so much loss. It would fit the overarching narrative that's stuck to this MonsterVerse so far, but it seems the cutting room floor did a number to this movie, as even stated by director Adam Wingard. It really does feel like the movie is playing damage control. Audiences didn't understand the previous films' stories, so they got fed up trying to understand them and just declared they don't want any characters in these movies. So we get walking action figures that say the words necessary to get us to our next fight. The best potential that existed in one of these dolls was Shun Oguri's character, Ren Serizawa, who is related to the Serizawa of previous films, the one who sacrificed himself to save Godzilla and prove humanity needed to accept him as their king. It was a very touching, holy piece in the last film, and Ren could work as an antagonistic son who resents his father for giving up his life to this monster he doesn't understand, and we could go through a similar arc Mark Russel did in the last film. None of this is realized, he is a dummy test pilot told to get in the goddamn chair, like it's an Evangelion reference. The most amount of enjoyment anyone could get out of this is the splodge of CGI dumped on to the screen with no visual grace or narrative substance. If that's all you want, then I pity what this means for blockbusters. Edwards crafted a fantastic character movie in 2013 and the series has been handed a blow here.
THE GODZILLA GROUP
THE GODZILLA GROUP
The first time I watched Godzilla vs Kong, I wasn't too impressed, but I realize that was only because I was going off the hype of others and not as a Godzilla fan myself, Currently, I'm watching it now for 6th time and it gets better each time
:heart_exclamation:
Gia- I loved her character every bit. When she was pleading with Kong to be careful, I fell in love with her and that scene. I am glad Kong has someone to connect with.
:metal_tone3:
Maddie- People can say what they want about her but as she watched Godzilla walk off; the concern in her eyes for big G. I love it. I hope one day Adam can find some kind of way for Godzilla to have some type of connection with her.
:speak_no_evil:
Kong- When everyone was all about team Godzilla or team Kong, of course, I was team G, but Kong is pretty dope too. Hope we can see Godzilla in the hollow earth helping Kong somehow
:arrow_down:
Godzilla- Just badass and he looked amazing in the close-ups. My favorite part was when he acknowledged Kong at the end. The scene, the walk-off, the background music, everything about that scene was so cinematic to me. I loved this movie, and the reason I'm able to watch it again and again and again is this focuses way more on the monsters as opposed to the humans. Is there any way to reach Adam Wingard?:metal_tone3:
I have to admit that I expected not to like this movie. When Hollywood decides to pitch two characters, whether it’s superheroes or monsters, that are essentially good against each other it usually turns into crap. Take the absolutely abysmal Batman vs Superman for instance. Then we have Kong Skull Island which, while still being watchable, had a really lousy script.
But to my surprise I quite liked this movie. I really got worried when the movie started off with some nutcase activist that Hollywood likes to glorify. Then they had to kiss up to Communist News Network as well by giving them some product placement. Don’t use a real world news network in fiction movies please. Especially not a well known fake news and far left propaganda machine.
However, in the end it all turned out nicely. The nutcase activist was really a nutcase and really really annoying but he still turned out to be on the side of the good guys.
The story was not altogether bad and although this story of the hollow earth is really far out fantasy more than anything else, even more than the idea of Kong and Godzilla themselves, I liked it. It was quite cool actually and it allowed for some nice special effects other than just Godzilla and Kong beating each other up and wrecking a few cities in the process.
Speaking of special effects. They are really why you watch these kind of movies. Sure a half decent story and passable acting helps but the special effects are the bulk of the enjoyment. For me the movie didn’t disappoint in this area.
They were overall very good and actually quite balanced. Well balanced considering the kind of movie. You cannot have a Godzilla movie without at least a couple of city blocks getting demolished after all. Having an actual wet navy battleship showing up I do ascribe to the usual Hollywood writer stupidity of course but for the rest it was really cool. I especially liked the hollow earth scenes and the strange landscape with all the weird creatures.
Warning, spoiler ahead: The thing I really liked with the movie was that the writers didn’t go down the route of killing either Godzilla or Kong. Something I really feared and which would have reduced the movie to a rubbish rating as far as I am concerned. Instead they threw in Mechagodzilla which was quite cool albeit predictable at this point in the movie and one which united Godzilla and Kong. Also this weird, completely devoid of any (even fictional) science, link to Gidorah was quite a bit of a stretch.
Overall, watching this movie was two hours well spent as far as I am concerned.
Somehow not all that entertaining.
A film titled 'Godzilla vs. Kong' really should be a lot of fun. For me, unfortunately, it was quite the disappointment. I personally feel they should've literally have made this one whole wall-to-wall battle between the two monsters with minimal human screen time... it felt like we got the opposite of that.
The trio of characters portrayed by Alexander Skarsgård, Rebecca Hall and Kaylee Hottle are passable if a little boring, they are at least decent. The opposite is true for the three of Millie Bobby Brown, Brian Tyree Henry and Julian Dennison - their whole side of the story just didn't do anything for me, so forgettable. Either way, there are too many non-monster characters in this.
The stuff directly with Godzilla and Kong is alright. I could've done with less humanising of the latter though, I prefer the idea of them being these titanic behemoths that just aren't that interested in humans. The two aren't equals so it feels unnecessary to try and bridge that gap.
My rating feels a tiny bit harsh, but for a movie that has a less than 113 minute run time it did drag a fair deal - and the film's 'best' element, the two titular names, aren't shown enough or portrayed interestingly enough to fulfill what I wanted. Perhaps they'll do it better in the next installment?
having watched the first 2 godzilla movies over the corse of 2 days, now moves on to this one.. and this one is the one i want to write a review of sorts on.. the first one.. was good, made me cry in places and have those feels you get from epic battles .. as did this one, honestly the emotion in kong was great . tore at you at the right times. and between the battles you dont know who to root for.. was the story good? honestly its not a deep plot. but in this day and age it doesnt need to be.. to be a entertaining film, if you want "reality" and Real world issues in your movies, go watch the news. if you want escape into sitiuations fantastical then thats what movies are for. so for this i fill its role. pace was good, action was good, my only real gripe was madison felt like token from the second movie, didnt drive the story or do anything that couldnt have been fullfilled by a new character same with her father. and the main "villian" didnt seem belivable in the role but too overacted .. but other than that i enjoyed them as respite from modern day BS that is surrounding us.
Set after the conclusion of the last film, when Godzilla battered the living daylights out of Ghidorah we have another King Kong, Godzilla blockbuster. The whole point of this film, regardless of plot, or actors, is to see these two CGI behemoths pummelling the tar out of each other. So, for all intents and purposes this film completely fulfils its purpose. Godzilla and Kong do batter, punch, kick, fire breath and ram things into each other’s heads all over the place, out at sea, and Hong Kong, which they flatten with some aplomb, in garish, confusing mishmash of roaring, punching, kicking and deafening roaring action.
The actors do not far so well. The story is a bare sketch the sole purpose to get the monsters to fight. For a film, that I guess must really be trying to appeal to younger children at the most the child actors are at the forefront the human action. They do not beat the monsters on screen, but they do beat the adult actors into the background. With preposterous silliness to play with the three main youngsters acquit themselves very well. Millie Bobby Brown is already an established and fine actor so we know that any scenes are going to be fun and believable, equally Julian Dennison since his breakout role in Hunt for the Wilderpeople carries the role of comedy sidekick skilfully and with the ease that some much older and more experienced actors could learn from. Entirely deaf Kaylee Hottle is the newbie and is quite enchanting. The children are the resourceful heroes of the day and should at least get their contemporaries in the audience whooping with joy as unbelievable as their shenanigans are.\
This leaves us with the adults, good actors too, but they are very much trailing behind 300-foot monsters, super-kids, explosions and collapsing buildings. Lumbered with not much characterisation, nails on blackboard dialogue they do their best and leap and jump and look concerned through the running time.
The CGI and effects are good, you can see where the money has been spent although it is for me, once again, noise and light salad, much less than the sum of its parts.
All in all, as a monsters fighting film this is good. Anything else and the weaknesses show. I know that Godzilla vs Kong has many fans old and young alike but purely from my point of view once again we are taking a trip to the continent of Non-Plussed-Land. As my grand daughter said after Skull Island why did they CGI Kong to look like a man in a suit and here we are clearly following the original series and not King Kong, either 1930s or Peter Jackson variants. I just prefer my giant apes not 300 feet tall and to resemble a real ape but that is just me.
Some points to note.
Kong was constantly called a monkey throughout the film. Is this a deliberate wind-up by the filmmakers, if it is, not funny, if not that’s probably worse, ignorance.
The exceptionally beautiful Eiza González gets killed again, the last film I saw her in was Baby Driver.
Over the course of these three films in this monster universe how many people are killed? Honestly it must be millions and the cost of rebuilding would bankrupt the world.
I know it is a silly monster film, I know we are not supposed to take it seriously, but these are the things that just get into under my skin and stay there. I think about them when I am watching the film.
If you like monsters lathering the bejesuses out of each other this is the film for you, if you like some sort of logical storyline to go with this battle, maybe not so much.
THE UGLY: ‘GODZILLA VS. KONG’
WRITING: 40
ACTING: 60
LOOK: 85
SOUND: 60
FEEL: 55
NOVELTY: 20
ENJOYMENT: 60
RE-WATCHABILITY: 45
INTRIGUE: 45
EXPECTATIONS: 50
THE GOOD:
This series continues to impress with its visual effects, and this fourth entry is easily the most impressive in terms of the scope of its CGI effects, even if it’s hardly as visually appealing as parts of Kong: Skull Island (2017).
I like the continued humanization of Kong and the special connection he has with Kaylee Hottle, allowing for some emotional depth not found in the previous entries.
Even if Alexander Skarsgård and Rebecca Hall fail to leave as strong a mark as previous actors in the franchise, the cast is great as usual. Millie Bobby Brown is arguably the best of the lot, once again.
The action sequences finally allow us to see what is going on in all their neon CGI glory!
THE BAD:
The plot quickly feels overstuffed and overenthusiastic, as if it moved into the third act directly. It made me exhausted, as I was expecting more build-up. The movie never slows down properly and allows next to no time to develop the human characters and their emotions.
The plot feels mostly like a hastily put together framing device to bring the two titans together, as it feels pretty uninspiring and underdeveloped and doesn’t stand out in any notable way.
The subplot with Brown and Julian Dennison mostly feels like a forcibly inserted comedic subplot that has very little impact on the main story and mostly just gets in the way of the natural progression of the plot.
Apex is a company that appears from nowhere just to have a real villain to fight in the movie, and it never feels like a palpable or believable threat, as it remains very underdeveloped.
The climax already feels big and epic without the inclusion of Mechagodzilla, yet the writers felt the need to fit that one into the finale as well, thus stuffing the final part of the film with way too much content.
THE UGLY:
It’s pretty amazing how titans manage to wreck most of Hong Kong, yet leave no human casualties.
THE VERDICT:
Finally pitting two legendary titans against each other, the fourth entry in the Monsterverse film franchise is a gorgeous, but generic and flawed monster movie that doesn’t require much from its audience.
52% = :heavy_minus_sign: = UGLY
Ok it's a good movie and I'll tell you why. It's a eye candy for people who wanted a battle between Godzilla and Kong. Simple as that. I liked it too.
BUT. But but but... the story, was hella weak. Yes it was entertaining on the action side which I get that's what is mostly expected out of it. But seriously WTF were they thinking with the plot. Maybe they weren't? The downloading of power stuff was BS imo. It was centred around Kong more and I felt like the movie went by real fast. You will only remember this movie for it's high tech awesome monster battles and emphasis on high tech.
Surely this movie disappointed many, me included but the battle was extravagant. Kinda. It's a good entertaining movie. But it didn't satisfy the soul of the audience surely. And I think it was predestined to end the way it ended. Both Godzilla and Kong are major creatures and we don't actually want any of them to die... right? Right. We don't.
Trust me you would have cried either way, no matter which creature you supported. Team Godzilla or Team Kong, either of them died I would have cried like there was no tomorrow. Even though I was Team Godzilla.
6/10 cz it was fair. :person_shrugging_tone1:
"There can't be two Alpha Titans."
I must come forward with this straight away, even though this has Paper Boi (Brian Tyree Henry) as a podcast maker, the human characters still didn't grab me. Enjoyed Kong's connection with Jia (Kaylee Hottle) but other than that, no.
But let us be honest, we don't come for the human characters. They can elevate the film but it is not why we are here. We are here for huge Kaiju/Titan fights! And boy this does deliver. We can clearly see whats happening which is a plus, we have a fight out on sea and a city battle. They even throw Mecha-Godzilla. One of my favorites! So we get 3 huge battles, we get Kong being freaking brutal and doing some Sub-Zero fatality shit, we have Kong summon his inner Riggs to relocate his shoulder, the best shot of Godzilla and Kong screaming to each other and we get the right winner.
I hope they expand on the MonsterVerse. Maybe get Gigan to earth next time? or the DESTROYAH? Anyway Godzilla vs. Kong is really worth a watch, it's under two hours which is such a plus and the CGI looks fantastic and the fights are all worth it.
It's still amazing that these two Cinematic Legends are still going strong.
What happens when a laser-spewing, self-declared 'King of Monsters', angry lizard meets a chest-thumping, sign-language speaking, angry simian: Mayhem.
Godzilla vs Kong, the latest offering from WB's Monster-verse lives upto the hype. Set a few years after the events of Godzilla: King of Monsters, the movie begins with getting us up-to-date with what has happened to Kong since 'Kong: Skull Island'.
Right at the outset, we have Team Kong in one corner, led by Dr. Ilene Andrews' and Jia, the last of the natives from Skull Island after it is destroyed by Skull Crawlers. And, in the other corner, we have the Team Godzilla, led by Madison Russell (Millie Bobbie Brown reprising her role from the previous movie).
After Godzilla goes on a rampage in one of the Apex facilities, Walter Simmons, Apex CEO, recruits the help of Team Kong to try and use Kong to find Hollow Earth, home of the Titans. Meanwhile, Team Godzilla, believing that Godzilla would not go berserk on the humans for no reason, start investigating the destroyed Apex facility.
While the involvement of two different human agencies might have rendered the movie a bit boring, the writers spring enough surprises along each of the teams' humans' journey to keep us hooked on till the next fight/Titan sighting in the movie.
Quite frankly, this isn't a movie one watches to delve into the vast spectrum of human emotions or anything remotely approaching that (in fact, there are quite a few casualties during the Godzilla vs Kong slugfest).
This is a movie we watch to enjoy two of the oldest and most amazing monsters in popular culture go mano-a-mano against each other. And, the movie delivers on that aspect.
Probably, the only sad thing about this movie is that it will not be watched by enough people in theatres owing to the current pandemic. But, it is nevertheless worth a watch to forget the times that we live in for a while.
Before I begin, I would like all the folks hating on, or disappointed by this movie, to enter "King Kong vs Godzilla" into Trakt.tv's search box, then take a moment to peruse the various thumbnails in the results. This is the bloodline, history and evolution of the concept. It is NOT, nor has it EVER been, (IMO) about high concept Shakespearian art and melodramatic pathos, but the spectacle of two big azz critters the size of buildings wreaking havoc on their surroundings, (especially the afore mentioned buildings) and each other. With each iteration, the special effects have changed, (no more stop motion capture or guys in the ultimate rubber gimp suits, to ever improving and now (by comparison) spectacular computer generated SFX that make it SO easy to suspend the suspension of disbelief, that some viewers seem to forget that these were always at their heart fun, entertaining monster movies, made to put butts in the theater seats and sell overpriced popcorn and snackos, an afternoon or evenings diversion from the mundane and humdrum existence of of ordinary folks lives.
So yes, if you go into this hoping for some profound revelation on mans inhumanity to man, or his his relationship and impact on the ecosystem, or the evils of the industrial military complex, you will probably come away disappointed .However, I would akin it to buying tickets for WWE Royal Rumble, and then being upset that you didn't get Ali vs. Frazier or Mike Tyson (in his prime) vs. ANYBODY.
The tyranny of too high expectations perhaps?
Believe it or not, it's been just about a YEAR since we've been able to see movies in an actual theater, so, I for one was simply glad to be able to enjoy the movie experience as the studios and Directors intended. The "distancing" restrictions IMO actually made the experience more pleasant, as anyone who ever just gotten comfortable in their "DELUXE recliner seat", only to have a sweaty overly cologne'd "big boned" individual with the Kaiju sized popcorn tub plop down next to you, while the couple with the male who has to explain everything going on during the movie to his date occupy the seats on the other side. (Not mad at the brothers who yell at the screen during martial arts and horror movies, cuz, that's prolly genetic, and actually enhances the experience)
Some have commented on the lack of actual thespian activity from the cast as well as the lack of a detailed narrative storyline, and, I actually have two theories about that. One is that they had to spend so much money to make sure the SFX weren't laughable, thus, reducing the $$ available for the cast, and two, that due to filming restrictions, it was probably difficult to properly film dialog heavy scenes, thus the multitude of scenes where the actor is simply emoting at the camera, or monologuing back and forth in quick edits. Also, as the creatures are purely CGI, there was probably either a comic looking stand in on stilts or just a ping pong ball on a stick to give the actors an eyeline, so, I will forgive them for just trying to keep a straight face and get through the scene. Perhaps though, we will eventually get a "Zack Snyder" cut, and learn that a lot was indeed left on the cutting room floor.
As for the story, If you followed what little dialog there was, they pretty much laid it all out, although, in a in a Cliff Notes version, so, as long as you paid attention and weren't preoccupied with mentally disabusing what was being presented. They seemed to be banking on the fact the the audience was familiar with the mythology and back story, so, most of the time was spent pushing the "revised " version of events, rather than dwelling on the minutia of the past.
I liked the relationship between Kong and the little deaf girl, and, it was heartwarming to see him struggle with his obvious anger and frustration at being held captive, (even if it was for his protection, as well as Monarch's benefit) and yet, putting his instinctive trust in the human he has bonded to. Rebecca Hall to was believable as her guardian, who wanted to protect her, yet was willing to exploit her relationship with Kong as long as it benefitted her research. Bryan Tyree Henrys role appears to have been to give Millie Bobby Brown something to do, by co-opting his quest for truth so that she could discover why HER "big guy" was having a seeming change of heart toward humanity, or, an extreme temper tantrum. It's just good that her Dad hadn't figured out how to turn on the "find my phone" feature on his daughters cell, or, he would have had pretty much NO dialog in the movie. Always good to see Lance Reddick back in "Fringe" mode, even if only for a minute or two.
The bad guy was charming if not perfunctory, his daughter, not so much. Karma had a kiss for BOTH of them in the end. it was kind of melancholy when Kong first found his way home, after all, what good is a throne and a kingdom, if you have no courtesans' or subjects?
As for the royal rumble(s) themselves? In the end, unlike Ali and Frazier who started out friends and became enemies, here our two Titans discovered that, while they might never get past being "frenemies" they DO share the common goal of keeping humanity safe, and, in that regard, as long as there is the possibility of a reemerging threat, perhaps being the ultimate "tag team" isn't such a bad idea. Until that time, he has tropical life in the upside down with lots of dragon brain snackos, and boat drinks for everyone else.
It has a better story than “monsters killed my son but let’s unleash them all to cure the planet of Climate Change.” The film also has better reviews due to being shorter than King of the Monsters. Critics don’t have long attention spans.
Godzilla vs King Kong though has so many human characters and the two giants, that it should be longer. With that said I was entertained throughout.
Adam Wingard’s last two movies were a not so great Blair Witch sequel and a disappointing Death Note adaptation. So I didn’t have much faith him despite him doing You’re Next and the Guest.
He instantly shows he can handle a movie this big. It is well made and visually stunning. However it is more like a Journey to Center of the Earth 1950’s science fiction movie. Than it is a non-stop battle between big monsters.
It takes a long while before you get a good battle between the two. While it is much more of a Kong movie than a Godzilla movie. Kong has the most screen time.
The under-rated King of the Monsters. Made for a better creature feature. Godzilla vs King Kong makes for a good old fashioned science fiction film, though.
Review by KhablamBlockedParent2021-04-01T02:14:49Z
Why the shit would you get someone known for incredibly dull horror movies to helm what's meant to be "The Avengers" of the monsterverse?
This film is in dire need of a director. It looks like it was pieced together in the edit because so much of it is just shots of actors looking confused at a camera. As in, they just don't seem present in the scene in a logical way.
Millie Bobby Brown can clearly act, but she doesn't seem to know what character she's playing. I sure as hell don't either after watching this.
Rebecca Hall looks like she's just stood up at a table read.
Eiza Gonzalez clearly just got told "kinda do a Michelle Rodriguez impression IDK" at some point and that's all that comes across.
Kyle Chandler is in about two scenes and frankly why did they bother? His presence makes little contextual sense, and he also doesn't seem to even know what continent his whacky high jinks daughter is on at any one time, which gives that whole plot an element of farce.
Godzilla doesn't even seem to be the same creature from the last movie, not in terms of their physical presence or actions. Something is just 'off' about his face and head that makes him seem weirdly artificial.
Kong was well done overall and his arc was the only thing that even tried to make sense in the film and saved it from getting worse than a 5/10.