Godzilla vs. Kong Review: An Exhilarating Spectacle on the Big Screen!

Godzilla vs. Kong, the 2021 monster film, is the sequel to Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Kong: Skull Island and is the fourth film in the Monster Verse from Legendary Studios. Directed by Adam Wingard, the film stars Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, and Rebecca Hall in the primary roles with Brian Tyree Henry, Shun Oguri, Eiza González, Julian Dennison, Kyle Chandler, and Demián Bichir playing the supporting roles.

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The storyline of Godzilla vs. Kong begins with Kong spending his free time alone and frustrated inside a Containment Zone at Skull Island while regularly reminding the authorities controlling him that he is running out of patience and doesn’t like being controlled. On the other hand, his long-time archnemesis, Godzilla, sensing some sort of threat, wreaks havoc on a research facility and continues to be a greater menace to society. Subsequently, to avoid the growing tensions between these two colossal Titans, the authorities work out a solution that instantly goes haywire as the remainder of the film displays the inevitable clash between the two within the 113-minute runtime.

Let’s begin with the positives. Now, in every single poster and promotional trailer of Godzilla vs. Kong, the only asset marketed and highly focused on is the big-ticket fight between the two God-like creatures. So, if I’m willing to take the risk to walk into a 100% capacity movie theater during these unprecedented times, I fully expect to be entertained through and through. And on that aspect, Godzilla vs. Kong never disappoints and never backs down in providing blockbuster entertainment.

The spectacle of these two behemoths fighting, throwing, and landing huge punches is a sight to behold on the big screen combined with the DTS surround sound and Tom Holkenborg’s rousing background score. Furthermore, every time these goliaths squared up, it is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before inside a movie theater, and if you manage to shut your brain off and do not mind the heavy, mindless destruction of every single area they step foot on, you’ll get your money’s worth.

Beyond the action and entertainment side of things, Godzilla vs. Kong also handled the emotional side of things decently, especially the story involving Kong and Jia, played by Kaylee Hottle. And understandably so, when you’re making a two-hour film about two monsters fighting, there should be a sentimental story beat backing at least one character, and in this case, they humanized Kong flawlessly.

But as far as the human characters go, excluding the little girl, Jia, the storylines or performances involving others are either not interesting or did not feel that substantial in the grand scheme of things. Millie Bobby Brown, who had an integral role to play in King of Monsters, was wasted in this film, and her storyline involving Brian Tyree Henry felt unnecessary and held very little weight to the actual plot. Also, the 2014 Godzilla film assimilated a heartwarming narrative involving Bryan Cranston’s character, which I think served the Gareth Edwards directorial really well.

Back to Godzilla vs. Kong, the humor, which almost feels forced in every one of these films, once again fell flat and did not hit the mark to the bare minimum. Moving on, even though the storyline didn’t hold any intrigue or significance, Adam Wingard, the director, delivered when it comes to the action scenes and the big spectacle factor, the only reasons why people pay the big bucks to watch these films in the theaters. On a completely different note, I was also very happy to notice Wingard’s signature style of neon color tones utilized in a few scenes, a nice little throwback to his best directorial work to date, The Guest.

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Overall, Godzilla vs. Kong, the film, is a classic example of an entertaining Summer Action Blockbuster that doesn’t offer much as far as the narrative or character work goes but provides you with all the excitement and thrill expected from a Monster film. Nevertheless, if you’re capable to unplug your brain for the entire runtime and enjoy the film for what it is, Godzilla vs. Kong is a perfect pick and worth driving to the movie theater this weekend.

Rating – 3/5 | Grade – B

Images via Legendary