Genre: Monster/Action
Rating: 2.5/5
Mindless entertainment, so why not?
Let me start off by saying I don’t hold Godzilla vs. Kong to the same standard as other films. The title of the film is also the plot, giant monster Godzilla fights giant ape monster King Kong. I have to hand it to them, the film is…not bad. It’s not great, but it’s…not bad.
There are major problems with this film. For one, the human storyline, as it often does in these films, is plain old boring. Can the film survive without it? No. That puts pressure on the writers to write a better story for the humans. This film falls very short. If you’re watching this film in theaters, go ahead and wait until you see humans on the screen and that’s a good time for a bathroom break, you won’t miss much. This is the fourth film in the series and this film introduces some new humans, yet retains humans from the other movies in cameo roles, as if to say “they’re still here, and yes that other movie mattered”. To be honest, I don’t remember their names, and hardly their faces. I doubt most viewers do, so they’re better off just cutting them out.
I will be completely honest here. I enjoyed Kong: Skull Island and Godzilla (2014). I’m not ashamed of it, they’re entertaining and I actually think they’re pretty good for their genre. Firstly, the film that kicked this off, Godzilla (2014) has a really solid foundation in its world-building, working on 2014 technology to discover and fight against huge ancient monsters. It’s cool, interesting, and the human story is personal and fairly strong. This is an aspect that Godzilla vs. Kong lacks and desperately needs. Suddenly, only a few years later, the world has incredible technology far beyond the real-world. It creates a disconnect with the audience, you can’t really relate anymore. The main draw for Kong: Skull Island is that it is very self-aware. The jokes are on point and the film oftentimes jabs at itself for how absurd some of the things that happen are. It’s fun and entertaining. Godzilla vs. Kong lacks self awareness, and seems to think of itself as a more serious film than it is.
The plot of this film is very borrowed. Think Journey to the Center of the Earth and Batman V. Superman put together. That is essentially this movie. Without getting into too many spoilers, this film lacks a surprise. What am I paying for though? Seeing cool monsters fight. That’s what you get in Godzilla vs. Kong so I can’t be too harsh on it.
Overall, the shot selection in the film is actually really good, sometimes beautiful. The CGI is exceptional. It’s the story that lacks. If we disregard Godzilla shooting a laser to the center of the Earth and that a deaf girl can contribute to conversations that don’t use sign language, the worst part about the film is that some of it is really boring. Would I watch it again? Having seen it twice already, I’ll probably end up seeing it again in the future. I won’t hate it, but I probably won’t be paying an immense amount of attention to it. Should you watch it? Sure, why not? Mindless entertainment is fun here and there.
Tony King