Godzilla vs Kong
Cast: Alexander Skarsgard, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Shun Oguri
Director: Adam Wingard
Sequels are made because there is a lot of money to be made. When you’re out of follow-up ideas, there’s always the brainwave of clubbing-related franchises from the same studio, as there’s more money to be made. If Batman can defeat Superman, if Alien can fight off Predator and take it in, Godzilla Vs. Kong was waiting for it to happen.
The film literally goes in search of its pot of gold for a monster murder. The challenge here was clear. You have fans of Godzilla, you have fans of Kong. The main thing was always to keep both armies happy.
Adam Wingard, who ascended the Hollywood ladder directing low-budget Hollywood horror, is in charge of the extravagantly expensive monster chaos. Wingard’s grindhouse background may have suited him for the signature tone of Godzilla Vs. Kong lyrically. The filmmaker is all about juxtaposing standard big studio splendor – in terms of CGI excesses and monster violence – with his core story idea to set up the visual entertainment quotient.
Creature feature as a genre doesn’t appeal to everyone unlike superhero movies for example, but it does have a huge and loyal audience, especially in the Asian market. At the right time, the film’s extended climax is set in Hong Kong. Tons of Asian characters flutter in and out of the frames. Because a groundbreaking storyline was not a priority, the film’s focus was clearly on reaching diverse markets so that the film can thrive in an era where inclusivity is welcomed.
There are movies where you can discover the whole story by watching the trailer. godzilla vs. Kong is a movie that tells you the whole ‘script’ with one look at the poster. There’s Godzilla, there’s Kong. We’ve seen the two prehistoric monsters in separate franchises before, and we know their individual stories. The script of this film is about making up an excuse to let the two mighty beasts fight it out, even as chic Hong Kong collapses all around them like an expensive toy city.
Much of what happens in the early hours is a lead up to the final battle. To give it some logic, Wingard and his company try to set the story against a sci-fi backdrop.
Of course, when Kong the super monkey and Godzilla the super lizard go head to head, neither can really be the bad guy. Screenwriters Terry Rossio and Michael Dougherty find the perfect “villain” in desperation to establish humans as the supreme species on Earth, even at the cost of destroying the two monsters for no reason.
The film is full of noise and fury as mind-boggling SFX brings the action overkill to life. It gets monotonous after a while once the monster action kicks in, though it’s technically a brilliant film that should satiate fans of the genre.
Of course, in a movie called Godzilla Vs Kong, you don’t have to do much unless you’re Godzilla or Kong. Most of the human cast is as much a spectator as the paying audience, once Kong and/or Godzilla take center stage (which almost always is).
For all its big bang performances, the movie starts to fade from your head even as you leave the theater. After 113 minutes of explosive experience, the lack of resonance is kind of a downer.
Rating: 3/5
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