by Charles Kirkland, Jr.
Who is the main Alpha? We find out in the culmination of eight years of build-up when the Titans face off in, Godzilla vs. Kong.
After a long seeming peace, the Titan monster Godzilla attacks a robotics facility. The seemingly unprovoked attack launches humans into a frenzy to find a way to protect themselves from the monster who seems to have turned against humanity. They turn to Kong. Following the “hollow earth” theory, Apex and Monarch take Kong to the center of the world to find a power source that will give humans the opportunity to develop a weapon to protect themselves.
With a screenplay written by Eric Pearson and Max Borenstein from a story by Terry Rossio, Michael Dougherty, and Zach Shields, Godzilla vs. Kong is the fourth film in the Warner Brothers’ Monsterverse that has been eight years in the making. Adam Wingard (V/H/S, You’re Next) directs the installment that stars series newcomers Alexander Skarsgard, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Eiza Gonzalez, Shun Oguri, and Demian Bichir joining universe veterans Millie Bobby Brown and Kyle Chandler.
Godzilla vs. Kong is the first real blockbuster movie to appear in theaters since the start of the pandemic and it should be. While the acting talents of Brian Tyree Henry, Millie Bobby Brown, and crew are great, the movie belongs to the Kaiju. The visuals of this movie are incredible. Watching Godzilla and Kong fight is spectacular and exciting. The graphics are very well done and the action is extremely well choreographed. It is a remarkable sight to behold.
The story not so much. There are many people out there who are fans of Godzilla movies and have been watching these films for decades. For those people, the story is very predictable. (It didn’t help that the secret enemy was revealed in the last trailer.) For those who have not been watching these films forever, the story is still predictable but sometimes the excellence is in the execution. Believe it or not, this movie is Batman vs. Superman done correctly. The payoff, in the end, is perfect and totally understandable, all tied up in a nice bow.
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of creature violence/destruction and brief language, Godzilla vs. Kong is huge fun. It is hard to believe and understand how the WB can get this universe so right but can’t get the DCEU straight. Essentially they are the same stories but they make so much more sense and are so much more watchable when it is a giant lizard and a giant monkey.
Godzilla vs. Kong is available in theaters and on HBO Max on March 30th.
Grade: B