It’s finally here. Fans have been anticipating Godzilla vs. Kong — the ultimate showdown between Godzilla and King Kong. As the latest installment in the MonsterVerse, the film acts as a sequel to both Kong: Skull Island and Godzilla: King of the Monsters, now we get to see these two titular giant monsters fight each other on-screen. Directed by Adam Wingard, best known for You're Next, The Guest, and Death Note, this is arguably the most ambitious feature that he has ever done. A very self-explanatory premise, and hopefully, fans will be satisfied.
One will fall. Godzilla vs. Kong is a mixed bag with pros and cons. Let’s start with the positives — the visual effects are spectacular. Whenever Godzilla and King Kong are on screen, it's incredible. They look enormous, Wingard does a great job of showcasing the size and scale of the two monsters. If you ever have the chance to watch this film on the biggest screen possible, it’s worth seeing at least once, especially for the authentic cinematic experience. The fights are entertaining, even if they aren't always memorable. Not necessarily a flaw, but Godzilla vs. Kong feels more like a King Kong movie than a Godzilla movie — whether that aspect will irritate you or not, totally up to you. Adam Wingard really tries his best to bring the audience the greatest battle between two iconic monsters. Who knows, maybe they’ll make more installments set in the MonsterVerse. Let’s hope his upcoming cinematic take on ThunderCats will be a lot more exciting.
“Kong bows to no one.” While Godzilla and Kong themselves are fantastic, the flaws do unfortunately still stick out. You can't take a premise about two giant monsters fighting each other so seriously. Once again, the human characters are bland and annoying. We're not supposed to care about them, but they heavily compromise the film nonetheless. The humans have never been the best part in any of the Monsterverse titles. However, the characters in Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla are actually quite compelling. In Godzilla vs. Kong, the only one on-screen that stands out is Kaylee Hottle as Jia, who communicates with Kong through sign language. Believe it or not, Jia is the only protagonist who adds some emotional depth from start to finish, and her storyline is relevant to the entire premise. Sadly, the rest of the cast is very forgettable, especially the sequences that involve Millie Bobby Brown, Brian Tyree Henry, and Julian Dennison — they add nothing important to the film.
Godzilla vs. Kong doesn’t live up to the hype.
