Godzilla vs. Kong

So the thing about CGI is that it has helped bring the imagination to life and has been improving constantly, ever since it splashed on the scene in the opening credits of Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo in 1958. Since then it crawled in the world of film til the 80’s when it pushed the limits and in the 90’s it exploded beyond that to the point that it is now used in almost every movie in one way or another. It has only been over the past few years that CGI has been used to create the main characters in certain films.

In 1962 the 29 year-old King Kong and the 9 year-old Godzilla went head to head in the first battle of the titans in King Kong vs. Godzilla. Almost 60 years later in Godzilla vs. Kong these two go to war again, only this time, it’s not two guys in rubber suits stomping on model buildings, instead it’s a CGI extravaganza.

After his victory over King Ghidorah in King of the Monsters Godzilla has left humanity in relative peace, but after he attacks a technology company, plans are put in motion to find a way to defeat Godzilla. Nathan Lind (Alexander Skarsgård) and Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall) agree to take the last remaining monster from Skull Island, Kong and use him to find the long rumored birthplace of the titans: the hollow earth, in the hopes of finding a power source to use against Godzilla. At the same time Madison Russell (Millie Bobby Brown) and her friend Josh (Julian Dennison) team up with a conspiracy podcaster Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry) to infiltrate the mysterious Apex Cybernetics to see what they are hiding from the world that may be causing Godzilla to attack. Somehow Godzilla can sense another titan using “the Force” I guess and goes after Kong. The pair slug it out over land and sea for dominance as the puny humans race to find a way to stop the mass destruction.

Again this is not the giant monsters of old, the CG is fantastic, Godzilla looks incredible on every close up, and even though they have increased Kong’s size since 2017’s Kong: Skull Island and gave him the Old Man Logan treatment he looks great too. Unfortunately much like those old Japanese and American films there has been less advancement in the script department. The story, when you can find it under the mounds of exposition, is ludicrous. Now I get I showed up for two legends laying the smackdown on each other, and we get that in some fun and interesting ways. However if your main event is as simple as punchy-punchy-fighty-fighty then you don’t need to overcompensate with a confusing narrative and way too many humans to follow, let alone remember their names (I had to look them all up for this review, because I could not remember a one). But I understand I was not there for them, but director Adam Wingard (You’re Next, The Guest) still manages to make me care even less about these characters than in any of the last three films in this series. But what it lacked in character development and plot it made up for in spectacle as every time the two lead beasts go toe-to-toe it is glorious. He even managed to throw in some 80’s film references throughout the film such as: Top Gun, Die Hard and Lethal Weapon.

There is something to be said after almost 60 years and nearly 50 times either Kong or Godzilla have appeared on screen, I still love watching them. And anything else planned beyond this I look forward to. This was also the first time I was able to take the whole family to a movie theater again since the beginning of the pandemic, that alone made Godzilla vs. Kong the best time at the movies in a whole year.