MOVIE REVIEW: GODZILLA VS. KONG (PG-13)
– By Adam Mast –
There’s something to said for a dumb movie that’s still fun despite its absolute ridiculousness and “Godzilla Vs. Kong” certainly qualifies as such a film. This continuation of Legendary Pictures’ monster-verse franchise, which started with Gareth Edwards’s “Godzilla” and continued with “Kong: Skull Island” and Michael Dougherty’s “Godzilla: King of the Monsters,” is–If you’ll pardon the pun– ape shit crazy! That said, this nutty movie coasts along on a heaping dose of a kind of ridiculousness that’s more akin to the silly but inviting spirit of the “Fast and Furious” franchise as opposed to the more obnoxious and incoherent stylings of something like the “Transformers” series (with the notable exception of the sweet-natured “Bumblebee.”)
In the aptly titled “Godzilla Vs. Kong,” the King is plucked from his home and transported to the mainland so that he might duke it out with Godzilla in a bid to save humanity as we know it. Along the way, a team of explorers discovers uncharted terrain that might just lead them to the origins of the world’s fiercest Titans. Beyond that, as expected, the identity of the true villain in this piece isn’t the monster you might be expecting.
Are there any people in this movie? There are but they aren’t particularly interesting nor are they particularly necessary. But then, what were you expecting from a movie called “Godzilla Vs. Kong”? As expected, the human element takes a back seat to the ultimate monster smackdown. On the other hand, this all begs the question, why even include capable actors like Kyle Chandler, Millie Bobby Brown, Julian Dennison, Alexander Skarsgard, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Demian Bichir in the first place if you aren’t going to do anything substantial with them? Thankfully, adorable Kaylee Hottle does bring a bit of dramatic weight to the proceedings as a young girl with a hearing impairment who is not only able to communicate with Kong but is also able to tame the heart of this most misunderstood beast.
“Godzilla Vs. Kong” was directed by Adam Wingard, a filmmaker who cut his teeth on smaller, considerably lower scale horror pictures like “You’re Next” and his strongest film, the Dan Steven-headlined thriller, “The Guest.” With this movie, Wingard is given a much larger sandbox to play in and he more than makes the most of it. “Godzilla Vs. Kong” has many effective set pieces to speak of including a sequence in which a drowsy Kong has an altercation with Godzilla at sea as well as an epic “Pacific Rim”–inspired throwdown that takes place in a neon-lit Hong Kong. It should also be noted that an iconic Godzilla foe of the past also makes an appearance in this movie, and while I’ll refrain from spoilers here, this particular appearance is sure to make most Godzilla fans giddy.
The visual effects are pretty spectacular as is the sound design. Both make for a movie that is best viewed on the biggest screen with the biggest sound possible. I actually took in a screening in Imax and it was quite the experience. Further props are in order to Wingard for coming up with a nifty reason to pit Godzilla and Kong against each other. It’s certainly not Shakespeare but no matter who you might be rooting for, you’re likely to walk away from the battle fulfilled.
With “Godzilla Vs. Kong,” what you see is basically what you get. It isn’t high art, folks. This is a big, messy, convoluted monster movie with uninteresting humans and seemingly nonsensical plot developments. Still, there’s a lot of dumb fun to be had here, the battles live up to the hype, and tonally, this movie does capture the goofy spirit of those old-school Godzilla sequels, minus the man-in-suit approach of course.
“Godzilla Vs. Kong” is currently playing in theaters.
