Movie Review
GODZILLA VS. KONG (2021) Review
A Meeting of Fists, not Minds
Godzilla vs. Kong doesn’t try to hide what it is: a monster movie that pits two classic, colossal creatures against each other in the ultimate smackdown. It’s a meeting of fists, not of minds. The only thing is missing is a couple of announcers, but audiences can supply the commentary. I watched the film with one of my best friends, a Godzilla aficionado, and like every other Godzilla fan, he just wanted to see Godzilla duke it out with Kong (he was rooting for Godzilla the entire time). The plot moves fast, the characters are just devices, and the special effects and sound design will make you wish you were sitting in the middle row of the many now-closed multiplexes.
In just twenty minutes, we’re acquainted with various new characters: Rebecca Hall’s Ilene Andrews and her adoptive child Jia (who has the ability to communicate with Kong), Alexander Skarsgård as brilliant but messy genius Nathan Lind, Brian Tyree Henry as an Alex Jones/QAnon-esque podcaster, Demián Bichir, a megalomaniac obsessed with putting humanity back on top of the food chain. It’s a lot to take in, but there’s a reason for why we barely spend time with these characters: it’s because Warner Bros. knows what the audience came here to see, and that deserves some respect in the age of “serious” superhero movies and “serious” art-house blockbusters. What the film lacks in contemporary socio-political commentary on nuclear weapons and the dangers of science, it more than makes up for when you see Kong deliver a haymaker.
The special effects are the real stars of the film. As John Hammond would say, they spared no expense. Other VFX movies can often feel like a chore to get through when you know that everything you see is computer generated and the motions of the characters seem slow and devoid of life, but not with “Godzilla vs. Kong.” Don’t let their size fool you: Kong and Godzilla have a few moves up their sleeves and are a lot than you might imagine. We’ve come a long way from men in Kaiju suits, and it’s all for the better. Even Pacific Rim lacked the semi-graceful way in which Godzilla and Kong fight.
The film is directed by indie-horror famous Adam Wingard, known for his early features You’re Next and The Guest which were classic throwbacks to 80’s horror. Unfortunately, “Godzilla vs. Kong lacks the Wingard signature of ironic and absurd humor mixed with horror. We’re treated to standard studio blockbuster relationships: a side character used as a punching bag and therefore comic relief, a maniacal semi-Elon Musk to show us the dangers of science and human nature, and the typical familial relationship between parent and child. It’s nothing new, but like I said, the movie isn’t trying to be. Do we need to see another parent hold their child in their arms? Or would we rather see Kong hold Godzilla in his arms only to suplex him a moment later?
Despite the amazing fight sequences, what this film and “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” failed to capture from the first “Godzilla” film by Gareth Edwards is the scale of these creatures. The cinematography puts us up close and personal with the creatures, making them appear as equals but makes the buildings look normal in comparison. Once your mind gets used to their sizes, it might be hard to distinguish how large these creatures actually are, as the humans rarely share the same frame with these colossi. That’s the issue: there are rarely people or human elements that are in close proximity to the Kong or Godzilla to comprehend their massive size. We don’t need a Lovecraftian sense of enormity, in the physical or metaphysical sense, but to give the film more “mphf,” it is important to establish.
Overall, the film is a breezy two hours of monster movie fun: you get a few fight scenes, some great special effects, and the faint sounds of a synthesized soundtrack, the only trace of Wingard’s personality in the entire film. “Godzilla vs. Kong” isn’t re-inventing the wheel here, it’s just showing us how to beautiful that wheel can look and sound.
3/5
Currently streaming on HBO Max from April 1–30th. In theaters now.
