Godzilla vs. Kong: Movie Review

If you're looking for monster vs. monster action then "Godzilla vs. Kong" won't disappoint as it delivers undeniably massive, thrilling, and even creative fights between the two behemoths. In fact, this not only happens once but numerous times in set pieces that were crazy, well-shot, and well-choreographed. Sadly, for those looking for a more human touch, they'll definitely feel the deficiencies of the film a lot more in this extremely monster driven experience. 

After the events of "Godzilla: King of the Monsters", the world experiences peace from titans as Godzilla hasn't shown up in years. Another known titan, Kong, is currently housed inside a huge facility in Skull Island monitored by Monarch. But when Godzilla suddenly re-appears and causes massive destruction and death, talks begin if the world needs to find a way to rid of titans for good. Unknown to most, Godzilla appears whenever he feels the presence of another titan - one that threatens his reign. In this case, Apex Industries, with their secret project caused the massive spike of energy that lured Godzilla. On the other side of the globe, Kong and his protectors are convinced by Apex Industries that in order to protect Kong and the planet from an enraged Godzilla long-term, they must find his former home deep within the Earth's core and leave Kong there. On their way to Antarctica which is the entrance to the Earth's core, an epic clash between the two titans begins as Godzilla is able to find the convoy carrying Kong. Who will emerge victorious in the battle between Earth's most powerful creatures?

If we're being frank, the MonsterVerse franchise has been a topsy-turvy experience and it takes a certain kind of taste in films to really appreciate what it's gunning for. "Godzilla vs. Kong" felt like a middle-ground film bringing the good elements that made the previous films special while still having the same deficiences at its worst moments. It's not the worst film in the series but it's also not the best. The biggest issue we had with "Godzilla vs. Kong" was the same element that actually made it quite enjoyable - and that is Godzilla and Kong. As an action film, this was surprising in a lot of ways but trust us when we say that the film doesn't pull any punches when it comes to its fights. The set pieces are massive, over-the-top, and expectedly silly but in a good way. These fights were shot well and even gave audiences the chance to be "within" the fight and they even had some emotions between the legendary monsters. Unfortunately, being too centered on the monsters themselves, the film totally forgot to develop its human characters. In particular, there's this massive disconnect between the major human-centric stories that surround the film. Some even felt like they were just put there just to give the film a chance to explain a lot of its magical science mumbo-jumbo critical to understand what was happening on-screen. The story itself and the progressions of scenes were scattered and nonsensical and the film definitely had a lot of basic loop holes and scene inconsistencies that it gave us the ocassional chuckle. But overall, considering that this is a film based on fantastical ideas already, most of these can be considered forgivable and part of the illusion, lore and magic. While "Godzilla vs. Kong" definitely ain't perfect, there's no denying that this was highly-entertaining at its core and pits two behemoths in a very satisfying and emotional manner.      

Rating: 3 and a half reels

Why you should watch it:
- on action alone, this was thrilling and exciting in so many levels

- the choreography and up close and personal approach in fight scenes were a huge surprise

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- the human characters take a very heavy backseat in this film

- the story, as expected, was silly and all over the place