Rated: M
Directed by: Adam Wingard
Produced by: Thomas Tull, Jon Jasni, Brian Rogers, Mary Parent, Alex Garcia, Eric McLeod
Screenplay by: Eric Pearson, Max Borenstein
Story by: Terry Rossio, Michael Dougherty, Zach Shields
Based on: Godzilla by Toho King Kong by Edgar Wallace and Merian C. Cooper
Starring: Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Shun Oguri, Eiza González, Julian Dennison, Kyle Chandler, Demián Bichir and Kaylee Hottie.
Kong bows to no-one.
But it’s a fight until one submits when it comes to the Alpha Titans.
A sequel to, Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Kong: Skull Island, here the ancient enemies, Godzilla and Kong are kept apart – Kong detained back at Skull Island and Godzilla keeping his peace with humanity. Until he attacks Apex Cybernetics seemingly unprovoked.
But there’s more to Apex lurking beneath the surface, Godzilla instinctively sniffing out any challenge…
There’s always an expectation with the mega monster movies of some cheesy moments, Godzilla Vs Kong the fourth film in Legendary’s MonsterVerse – and there’s some borderline dialogue with cliché comments like Dr. Nathan Lind’s (Alexander Skarsgård), ‘I might have an idea, but it’s crazy.’
And, ‘No one keeps the reigns on Kong,’ from Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall).
But combined with Kong waking up, scratching his hairy butt before taking a morning wash under a waterfall, it all kinda blends into a light-hearted banter that keeps the film rolling in between explosive monster fighting action.
Godzilla Vs Kong is loud, colourful and at times I felt like I was on a roller coaster.
Going back into the history of the two ancient titans, with redacted documents flashing at the beginning of the film, I thought there’d be more to the story. But the backbone of the film is the fight to be the alpha titan: the fight not so much the why.
What was surprising was the effects as ships sped up to 600km through blue lights and exploding through a crack in the centre of the earth to break into the upside-down Hollow World that tilts back onto itself, filled with sparkling blue rocks and lush forests and bat-like vultures reaching out with strong legs to rip you apart.
I highly recommend viewing this film on the big screen.
Made for a younger audience with asides from returning character, Madison Russell (Millie Bobby Brown), along with, I’m-afraid-of-guns, Josh Valentine (Julian Dennison); there’s also the conspiracy theorist, Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry), and, ‘That podcast is filling your head with rubbish,’ from Madison’s dad – I was still able to have a giggle at the antics of the characters, while silently cheering for both Kong and Godzilla. Hard not to be a fan of both.
And while there’s nothing new here with the story (or didn’t feel like it,anyway), I enjoyed the spectacle.
For me, better than, Godzilla: King of Monsters but not as good as, Kong: Skull Island (John C. Reilly as Marlow: pure gold).