'Godzilla vs Kong' review: The Titans fight it out in this 'battle of the ages'!

The fourth instalment of Warner Bros. and Legendary’s MonsterVerse saga, namely Godzilla vs Kong, has finally made it to theatres after a wait of nearly two years. This film, sees the two alpha-titans go up against each other, seemingly as a result of the long-standing rivalry between the two species. Simultaneously, its non-monster characters can be observed to be trying to come up with what they think is a “permanent solution” to the reign of the Kaijus on the planet. Some of the non-Kaiju characters of this film are of the opinion that the Earth must be ruled by one kind of species only; the humans. Read on to find out what parts of the Godzilla vs Kong movie are good and what could have used some editing or rewrites.

Godzilla vs Kong Review:

What works?

The first few moments of the film, which see Kong taking a stroll in his habitat as if the entire Skull Island, in its entirety, is like one big mansion for him does the job of easing the audience into the imminent tragedy of the film well. As the film progresses, it becomes apparent that Godzilla vs Kong is more about Kong’s quest of finding the truth about his lineage and the home that he had been longing for, which means that the simian Titan gets his long-overdue and hard-earned screen time. What also works about the film is the fact that Wingard and the VFX team have done a top-notch job in the department of making Kong as relatable as one possibly can. Kong reels from the damage sustained from Godzilla, spews out water after surviving an attempt on the part of Godzilla of drowning him, looks visibly worried when his nemesis approaches him as the sharks did in Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, and even shivers when subjected to the Arctic cold. Kong is basically the movie-watching patron if they were put in a similar situation.

The Kong from Kong: Skull Island, who was played by Toby Kebbell in part, was portrayed as a relatively immobile humanoid whose body aches when he walks around, given the weight of the ape king. The Kong in Godzilla vs Kong is more comfortable with his size and skin and has learned to use his body in a way that hasn’t been witnessed before. This Kong, unlike the previous iterations, can also communicate with humans, express his feelings, and knows the concept of doing well by those who do well by him. Kong in Godzilla vs Kong is also an exceptional judge of character, as is evidenced by several scenes.

Godzilla vs Kong trailer:

The world of the film and the execution of the VFX shots:

As far as the world of the film is concerned, the film, in an attempt to break both literal and metaphorical grounds, shows that almost an entire planet worth of topography is up for exploration, presumably setting the stage for the MonsterVerse films in the years, maybe even decades, to come. The hollow earth, its several entry points, their respective challenges, and the science behind them are extensively discussed by the lead characters. Through this, the makers have done a passable job in explaining how will humans go in and out of the Hollow Earth in future MonsterVerse films.

As far as Hollow Earth itself is concerned, it is as scenic and picturesque as it can get. Additionally, much like in the case of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, given the way Adam Wingard, in addition to its lead monsters, showcases the earth within the earth as we know it, it seemed like the director and Warner Bros. wanted to show off the skills of the VFX team, which came under the radar of the fans and critics alike for all the wrong reasons in the past. All in all, the scenes featuring the hollow earth, even though they overstay their welcome, serve their function well.

When Godzilla and Kong brawled:

Coming to the main attraction of the film, which are the fight sequences between Godzilla and Kong, true to what Wingard had said earlier, they are highly dictated by the topography of the battle arena. The creative use of each and every battle venue has resulted in intelligently-choreographed brawl sequences. These scenes, much like Kong, see Godzilla move in ways that weren’t deemed possible for the lizard titan before; Godzilla can punch, bite hard enough that it can tear large organs off with ease and even mimic a crocodile to have the upper hand over his foe. This film, just like it has been established in the previous films, show that Godzilla will stop at nothing to secure his place on the throne and/or save the humans.

Wingard and the team of writers have also managed to give a Gen-Y touch to the film, by showing that how a podcast and its one and only host has the power to meddle with the peace of a multi-billion-dollar corporation that has the power of wiping out the titans once and for all. The final aspect of the movie that works in its favour is Kaylee Hottle’s Jia, who manages to overshadow the rest of its characters, even the likes of Shun Oguri’s Ren Serizawa and Demián Bichir’s Walter Simmons. One can safely say that the actor, irrespective of her nearly all-Deaf heritage, speaks more than some of the characters combined and much like Kong, is the heart & soul of the film.

What doesn’t work/the makers could have improved upon?

As mentioned earlier, Wingard and the team spend a lot of time showing off the hollow earth like a millionaire might show off his recently-purchased mansion. That screen time could have been better utilized by exploring the violent and turbulent history shared by Kong and Godzilla’s race or introducing more Kaijus. The fight sequences are concerned, although intelligently-crafted and well-staged, are very few and far in-between and don’t feel fully justified, because the “big war” that characters talk about a couple of times in the film hasn’t been explored at all. The audience is left longing for more fights between the two, which was the film’s unique selling point all along.

Speaking of unjustified aspects of the film, Godzilla’s motivations behind the kind of rampage that he can be seen causing doesn’t seem to be fully explored. Granted, that this film is majorly about Kong and the drama of his past and that of the humans are on his side, but the team could have done better than simply showcasing Godzilla as a one-tone antagonist who had a drastic change of heart since he beat King Ghidorah in the last film. Additionally, the humans who are seen on Godzilla’s side, with the obvious exception of Millie Bobby Brown, Julian Dennison, and Brian Tyree Henry, seem as one-tone as the atomic lizard who they are supporting and trying to save.

Finally, almost every Asian character in the MonsterVerse films is portrayed as someone who is relatively much more cautious and clearly is intellectually superior than their on-screen colleagues, such as Ken Watanabe’s Ishiro Serizawa and Zhang Ziyi’s Dr. Chen in the case of Godzilla: King Of The Monsters. In the case of Godzilla vs Kong, it is Shun Oguri’s Ren Serizawa. But, the fact that these characters, who play the front-lining human characters in the ToHo films featuring Godzilla, are also portrayed as mild-mannered pushovers is something that did not go down well. Additionally, while Godzilla vs Kong delivers on one promise, it drastically fails on the other (Hint: The promise was made through their marketing campaign). But, given that in the future, Warner Bros. will most probably want to keep diving into the MonsterVerse, which is their only successfully-running film franchise as of right now, one can see why the makers did not deliver on the latter.

Godzilla vs Kong: The final verdict:

This film, given its set of merits, has earned its 3.5/5 stars. Its main contributors are its sci-fi and drama aspect. The film could have earned an additional 1/2 star had it given its audience visuals of more Kaijus than what they had already shown through trailers and TV spots. 

Godzilla vs Kong release date in India:

As far as Godzilla vs Kong release date in India is concerned, the film opened in Indian theatres on March 24th, 2021. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, Godzilla vs Kong movie will hit all the screens across the world on March 31st. Additionally, the film will also be made available for streaming on HBO Max for a total of 31 days.