Godzilla vs. Kong throws some awesome cinematic battles with some silly characters and plot points. The film is currently at theaters an also streaming on HBO Max. It is directed by Adam Wingard who also directed the adaptation of Death Note (2017) and the reboot of Blair Witch (2016). The story has a trio of writers; Terry Rossio, who co-wrote The Lone Ranger (2013), Michael Dougherty, who also directed and co-wrote Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), and Zach Shields, another co-writer on G: KotM.
The screenplay is by Eric Pearson, he wrote the screenplay for the upcoming Black Widow movie, and Max Borenstein who also wrote Godzilla (2014) and Kong: Skull Island (2017). I’ve seen almost every Godzilla film, but only bits and pieces of the 1998 Godzilla otherwise known as Zilla. In the Showa era, the two Kaiju first battled in King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963), but now the Kaiju get reverse billing. This picks up from the last Monsterverse movie, Godzilla: King of the Monsters. We hear jungle sounds at the opening with a flock of pterosaurs flying above Skull Island. Kong wakes up and yawns.
There is a strange song, “Over The Mountain, Across The Sea” by Bobbie Vinton, it is not clear if Kong is running the song in his head or if it is played around him. The very distinctive part of Kong’s CG effect is when he scratches his back side, kinda funny. Then, he bathes under a massive waterfall, an impressive effect. We find a young girl in the jungle, Jia (Kayle Hottle), she is Iwe, a Māori New Zealand people. This is Hottle’s first role and she is adorable, the emotions can be read on her face.
Like Millicent Simmonds in A Quiet Place (2018), the actress is deaf, but so talented, I want to see more of these actresses. She runs into the jungle with her Kong toy, while Kong fashions a spear from a tree. Jia holds up the Kong toy and then we get a closeup of her ear. This shifts the sound design to her quiet world, incredible!, and it sets the film above other Kaiju movies. Kudos to sound designers Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van Der Ryn! Then, Kong roars and hurtles the spear at the sky, at this point I’m thinking this film is a must to see in theaters. This shatters the crystal dome that has part of Kong’s enclosure. We get now where Kong was during G:KotM.
This pulls out to the dome structure of the Kong Containment kept by Monarch, the Kaiju corporation set up in Godzilla, on Skull Island. Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall) is monitoring the situation. Hall was in the the fantasy, BFG (2016), adapting Roald Dahl’s book, and she was also in Iron Man 3 (2013). She says that if Kong is taken out, then Godzilla will come after him because they are both alpha Titans (their term for Kaiju). Jia runs up to Andrews and they start signing, I hope there is more movies with sign language. She worries about Kong.
Then, we get the credits sequence which introduces the Hollow Earth explorations. Hollow Earth it is a conspiracy theory that has been around since at least the 17th century, and notably a setting of Jules Verne’s novel Journey to the Center of the Earth. It is a world that holds the secrets of the Titans, but kinda silly. The other part is the line that can't be crossed seems to be aliens, Hollow Earth and Kaiju fine, but aliens? They are a part of the G-films, aliens from Black Hole Planet 3, Kilaaks, and more. We also a glimpse of Dr. Nathan Lind (Alexander Skarsgård) and his book, Hollow Earth. Skarsgård plays Randall Flagg in The Stand series based on the Stephen King novel and also the action film, The Legend of Tarzan (2016).
The music is by Tom Holkenberg which is good, but not as memorable as Bear McCreary’s score in GotM which hinted at the old G-film themes. Then, we hear the voice of podcaster, Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry), and his Titan Truth Podcast. He is in the upcoming Eternals and also starred in Joker (2019), but the part gets wearisome with conspiracy theories. I get Henry is supposed to have fun with the part, he babbles conspiracies, but there is no charm. Basically it’s like Men in Black (1997), the crazy conspiracies are actually true, ok.
Bernie works for Apex Cybernetics, a new corporation for the Monsterverse, in Pensacola, Florida. He is going to uncover the truth, boring, so a massive business doesn’t know that one of its employees is a podcaster? Apex is an impossibly technological company that has military tech so it is a bit absurd. We see the company commerical of Apex and its leader, Walter Simmons (Demián Bichir), he was in the horror movie, The Nun (2018). His part is kinda predictable for Kaiju fans. Bernie is able to download Apex data, really weak data security for the most advanced corporation, and finds some kind of shipment to Hong Kong, no spoilers here!
Bernie ends up seeing a hidden technology during an attack by Godzilla in a Titan Alert. He is drawn to that technology. At the rainy rooftop, Godzilla’s approach is seen by Ren Serizawa (Shun Oguri), he is mostly known for Japanese films like Lupin the 3rd (2014). I imagine that he is related to Ken Watanabe’s character, Ishiro Serizawa, but it is not made clear in this movie. Simmons evacuates him to a helicopter. Godzilla stomps Pensacola, wouldn’t there be an investigation into Apex with an attack? Then, we get Madison Russell (Millie Bobby Brown), at high school.
This is a return for the actress and character from GotM, but of course she is for playing Eleven in Stranger Things and also Enola Holmes. Madison was the ally to Godzilla in the other movie, and here kinda. At the refugee camp, Madison meets with her father, Dr. Mark Russell (Kyle Chandler). He is also from the earlier G-film and is known for Super 8 (2011) and of course Friday Night Lights. His role is mostly a cameo here and the family dynamic is not as strong as GotM. Mark doesn’t like his daughter’s interest in the podcast and she teams up with Bernie and Josh (Julian Dennison), but they are all basically along for the ride. Dennison is of course the kid, Russell, in Deadpool 2 (2018) and Ricky in Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016).
They have their part to play in the Kaiju battle, but I was bored when they showed up. Ren and Simmons bring on Nathan to help them find the Hollow Earth. He explains that there was a “gravitational inversion”, a reverse gravity that finished his brother’s expedition to the Hollow Earth. Simmons explains that he developed a vehicle, Hollow Earth Aerial Vehicle (H.E.A.V.) that can enter the Hollow Earth. Usually such vehicles are called Super X in G-films. Nathan theorizes that the Hollow Earth is the home of the Titans and that they will need a Titan to guide them to it.
Nathan goes to the Kong facility to convince Ilene to get Kong to help them. So Kong is taken by ship to Antarctica, Nathan and Ilene are joined by Maya Simmons (Eiza González). She played KT in the comic book adaptation, Bloodshot (2020). Maya keeps referring to Kong as a "monkey", but of course they have tails, he would be better described as an ape. Her character is also G-film predictable. Also, where is Mothra in all of this? This is where the battles begin! The fights are fantastic, a step up for Kaiju films, and the effects are an improvement over the Showa battle. Godzilla vs. Kong has some great battles between two Titans (Kaiju) and a few interesting characters.
Four H.E.A.V.s out of Five!
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