Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019 film)
2019
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76% Tomatometer 393 Reviews 91% Audience Score 10,000+ Verified Ratings Legends collide in "Godzilla vs. Kong" as these mythic adversaries meet in a spectacular battle for the ages, with...
- (391)
- Adam Wingard
- PG-13
- Alexander Skarsgård
Mar 29, 2021 · Godzilla vs. Kong. "Godzilla vs. Kong" is a crowd-pleasing, smash-'em-up monster flick and a straight-up action picture par excellence. It is a fairy tale and a science-fiction exploration film, a Western, a pro wrestling extravaganza, a conspiracy thriller, a Frankenstein movie, a heartwarming drama about animals and their human pals, and, in ...
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- Godzilla's Greatest Fights
- The 10 Best Godzilla Movies
- Verdict
By Zaki Hasan
Updated: Nov 3, 2022 8:55 pm
Posted: Mar 29, 2021 3:00 pm
Godzilla vs. Kong delivers exactly what the title promises. The film, fourth in Warner Bros. and Legendary’s “Monsterverse” of kaiju movies that began with 2014’s Godzilla and 2017’s Kong: Skull Island, pits the two giant monsters against each other for the first time since the Japanese-produced King Kong vs. Godzilla in 1962. That one-off battle retained enough of a Godzilla-sized footprint in pop culture that, no matter how many other creatures the Japanese lizard squared off against, it was this pairing that seemed as inevitable as it was unlikely.
Of course, 49 years was probably long enough for the two icons to chill in their respective corners, so the timing couldn’t be more right for this long-in-coming rematch, one afforded the blockbuster budget and razzle-dazzle we’d expect in 2021. As directed by Adam Wingard from a screenplay by Eric Pearson and Max Borenstein, Godzilla vs. Kong not only lives up to the bone-crunching, building-smashing promise of its title, it also brings together numerous threads laid out over the three Monsterverse chapters thus far.
Does that mean Godzilla vs. Kong is particularly deep or introspective? No. Does it need to be? Also no. Eschewing the satirical edge of Skull Island or the slow-burn approach of the 2014 Godzilla, this is a Saturday afternoon matinee gussied up with elaborate effects. And it’s made all the better for wholeheartedly embracing that.
The story picks up broadly from where things were left at the end of 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Giant Titans populate the globe, with Godzilla the top banana among the top bananas. Life has gone on, and the monsters pretty much leave people alone. But when the Big G attacks a facility run by shady corporation Apex Cybernetics, that fragile detente is shattered.
Meanwhile, Kong -- now considerably bigger than his “adolescence” during the 1970s-set Skull Island -- is being shipped to a place big enough for him to live in: the Hollow Earth, an entire subterranean primordial ecosystem. Kong must make it there before his presence at sea can attract the attention of that certain other alpha creature who may wish to take him down. Whoops, too late.
So why do Godzilla and Kong fight? The various developments leading to it are best discovered on their own, but fight they do. A few times. Probably the smartest thing Godzilla vs. Kong does is not delaying the fisticuffs. Yes, there’s a cursory effort to ground the proceedings in a way that hangs together narratively while feeling like a natural progression, but nothing to get in the way of the hot monster-on-monster action everyone showed up for.
Even more of a challenge – given their huge respective fanbases – was ensuring each of the title monsters got their moment to shine while also making their bouts enough of a contest to keep us engaged. It’s a tricky balance, admittedly, but Wingard manages it well.
Ultimately, Godzilla is Godzilla. A force of nature, he’s neither good nor bad. He just is. Kong, on the other hand, is actually given something of an arc, with his longing for friendship and family imbuing him with humanity. He’s also formed a relationship with a little girl (Kaylee Hottie) calling to mind the Kong animated series from the 1960s as well as the Toho-produced feature King Kong Escapes. And while there’s no “Save Mothra!” moment like the Internet lampooned endlessly when the project was announced, some of the developments aren’t all that far removed from 2016’s Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Of course, as with the previous entries in this universe, it’s the human characters – including Millie Bobby Brown and Kyle Chandler as Madison and Mark Russell, the daughter-father duo from Godzilla: King of the Monsters – who suffer the most in terms of screentime and development.
While it’s nice to see both returning characters again to add some continuity, Chandler’s role, unfortunately, amounts to little more than an extended cameo, though he plays it with clear eyes and full heart, naturally. (The instant gravitas of Ken Watanabe’s Dr. Serizawa from the preceding Godzilla films is sorely missed here,)
Instead, more time is spent on new characters like Rebecca Hall’s scientist Ilene Andrews and Alexander Skarsgaard as Hollow Earth expert Nathan Lind, as well as Brian Tyree Henry playing a paranoid podcaster determined to prove Apex is up to something. (Spoiler alert: they’re up to something.) Of the newbies, Skarsgaard probably comes off the worst, given little in the way of backstory nor motivation to make us feel invested in his own investment with the film’s event. On the other hand, Henry is a bright spot by doing for Godzilla vs. Kong what John C. Reilly did so memorably in Skull Island: puncturing the self-seriousness with a few well-placed laugh lines.
Godzilla vs. Kong knows exactly what it wants to be, and invests every minute of its two hours living up to that promise. Somewhat understandably the humans are overshadowed by their enormous co-stars, but it is a glorious love letter to these iconic characters’ collective histories, a satisfying culmination of the arc leading up to it, and, hopefu...
- Zaki Hasan
Mar 29, 2021 · Review: In ‘Godzilla vs. Kong,’ the big monsters brawl. And the audience actually wins. Godzilla battles Kong in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “Godzilla...
Mar 29, 2021 · Mar 29, 2021 8:00am PT. ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ Review: You’ll Want to See This Titan Throwdown on the Biggest Screen Possible. The two title monsters don't have much brains between them, but...
Mar 30, 2021 · ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ Review: Let’s You and Him Fight. Ape and lizard go toe-to-toe, with a cast of talented humans to comment on the action. Share full article. 80. The film’s director Adam...
Mar 29, 2021 · Review. Godzilla vs Kong review – duelling monsters make for one hell of a show. The two titans take each other on in a goofy and hugely enjoyable action adventure that delivers the big...
