Godzilla vs. Kong

Godzilla vs. Kong
Starring Alexander Skarsgard, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Kaylee Hottle
Directed by Adam Wingard

Holyfield vs. Tyson. Ali vs. Frazier. De La Hoya vs. Mayweather. The boxing world has been filled with epic fights that have resonated throughout time - but that's boxing. In the world of cinema, there's not as many epic rivalries that have withstood the test of time, but there's one that's stood out since their first meeting back in 1962: Godzilla and King Kong. Ever since these two kaiju met, there's been hostility between the two due to both of them serving as apex predators who vie for complete control over their environment, and they don't like to share. Ever since Hollywood acquired the rights to Godzilla from Toho back in 2014, every film has led to this titanic moment: the true clash of the titans, and the seven year wait is well worth it. "Godzilla vs. Kong" is the first real epic blockbuster since the pandemic, and its everything you'd expect it to be, and more.

After saving the world a few times over, it seems that Godzilla has turned into a villain for mankind, attacking an Apex Cybernetics lab in Florida unprovoked. Meanwhile, on Skull Island, King Kong is still reigning king of the jungle, and is observed by Kong expert Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall) and her young, deaf adopted daughter Jia (Kaylee Hottle), who is the last remaining member of her tribe, and who communicates with Kong using sign language.

Madison Russell (Millie Bobby Brown) doesn't believe Godzilla has turned evil, and that there's something Apex is hiding. She's been listening to a podcast hosted by Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry), who shares her beliefs, and with the help of her friend Josh (Julian Dennison), meets with Hayes, and the three of them investigate the Apex headquarters.

After Godzilla's attack, Apex CEO Walter Simmons (Demian Bichir) enlists Hollow Earth theorist Nathan Lind (Alexander Skarsgard) to travel to the center of the earth - where the Titans were born - to retrieve an energy source, but he needs a Titan to guide him and his team, including Walter's daughter Maya (Eiza Gonzalez), and he travels to Skull Island to convince Ilene to let Kong lead them. She agrees, but only if she and Jia go with them because Jia is the only one Kong trusts and will communicate with, but en route to the launch site they're attacked by Godzilla, resulting in the first fight between the two Titans - but it won't be their last, as they battle for dominance and, ultimately, for the betterment of mankind itself.

There's been one issue I've had with all the "Godzilla" films (but not so much with "Kong: Skull Island"), and that's the interference of man in the films. For movies that include "Godzilla" in the title, there's very little of the titular titan on screen, and more time is given to weaker human stories that I could care less about, especially with "Godzilla: King of the Monsters," where I just wanted to see Godzilla whip the floor with numerous enormous Titans, but instead I was "treated" with a family dynamic story between Eric Taylor, Lorraine Warren, and Eleven. Going into "GvK," I was apprehensive that again the film would rely too much on human drama and not enough kaiju-on-kaiju action - and while there was some unnecessary human interaction, the movie did its service well by focusing on Godzilla and King Kong.

This unnecessary story came with Madison's quest to prove Godzilla isn't evil, and to me, that storyline didn't really go anywhere, at least not in the grand scheme of things, but moreso delivered expositional dialogue to tell a story the audience already knows. While that story was lacking, the other human story was surprisingly well-done and pivotal to the overall plot, and provided some real sense of emotion rather than drummed-up feelings. Alexander Skarsgard, Rebecca Hall, and especially Kaylee Hottle (in her first starring role) really deliver in their performances, whereas Millie Bobby Brown and her company seemed to exist solely because she was in "King of the Monsters" and they had to maintain continuity.  The relationship between Nathan Lind, Ilene Andrews, and Jia seemed to mark a nuclear family, and all three were well-rounded and necessary, especially Jia, who serves as Kong's voice of reason, so to speak (the fact that Kaylee Hottle is deaf in real life adds to the authenticity of her character).

Whereas the film highlights the value of mankind, it also meanders to the generic villainous performances of people who feel that they're the real apex predators, and will stop at nothing to maintain top-dog status, showcasing a hubris that's as big as the clashing Titans, but whose bodies are as feeble and useless as one of the Titans stepping on an ant, but there has to be that side of the story because it exists in every other Hollywood-created "Godzilla" and "King Kong" movie.

The film does indeed belong to Godzilla and King Kong, and their fights are epic, astonishing, extremely well-executed, beautifully CGI'd, and surprisingly humanistic. You see each creature's strengths and weaknesses in full display, as Godzilla serves as a brute strength fighter while Kong showcases human intelligence and guerilla (heh) warfare and strategy. Extreme credit is due to the unsung heroes of the film: editor Josh Shaeffer, who wonderfully edited the fighting to make it look like a dance rather than an all-out brawl; cinematographer Ben Seresin who made each frame look masterfully done; and without a doubt the motion-capture work of T.J. Storm and Terry Notary, who played Godzilla and King Kong, respectfully.

Storm and Notary give these creatures emotions and human instinct that you wouldn't expect from monsters of this caliber, as you see their brains trying to process what is happening around them as they come to blows often, and especially in the case of Notary's Kong, you see a deeper sense of humanity as he interacts with Jia and gives off facial expressions that are undeniably human as he struggles with doing what he doesn't want to do, but knowing that its still the right thing to do. Equally, Storm's Godzilla is more than just a nuclear-powered creature, but one that is worried about his own existence, a monster misunderstood by the public and who was once hailed as a hero but seen as a villain, when in fact he - along with Kong - is neither. They're just two Titans living in a world of pheasants, asserting their dominance as only they know how. Getting to witness these Titans literally beat each other to a pulp over and over is what the audiences wanted, and thanks to director Adam Wingard, its exactly what they got. 

It took a few tries, but "Godzilla vs. Kong" managed to deliver on its promise - providing epic, cataclysmic action sequences between these two Titans that fill the big screen with awe-inspiring visuals, pulse-pounding action, and surprisingly dramatic moments that will satisfy the kaiju in us all.

The Score: A