‘Godzilla vs Kong’ – Review
Godzilla. Kong. Two titans who have loomed large over the earth and stood as primordial guards of our vast and evolving ecosystem. But there can only be one heavyweight champion, and these two colossal monsters are ready to rage it out in an intense showing and make no mistake this is blockbuster cinema at its best in Godzilla vs Kong!
In a time when monsters walk the Earth, humanity’s fight for its future sets Godzilla and Kong on a collision course that will see the two most powerful forces of nature on the planet collide in a spectacular battle for the ages. As Monarch embarks on a perilous mission into uncharted terrain and unearths clues to the Titans’ origins, a human conspiracy threatens to wipe the creatures, both good and bad, from the face of the earth forever.
Bringing the battle of these two titans to the big screen is director Adam Wingard (Death Note, The Guest) and he lets his talents shine out on a massive canvas and an incredible scope to tell this pulse-pounding story. Developing two separate narratives around each of our monster protagonists, Kong and Godzilla, Wingard takes audiences through an incredible science-fiction monster-fighting experience that leads to a mega-showdown in the city of Hong Kong and leads to the exploration of the vast majesty of the Hidden Earth! Long time fans of the characters and the world they inhabit, alongside new audiences, will be very pleased with the passion and detail that Wingard brings to this story and this is blockbuster popcorn cinema done right.
Building out the first path of our narrative around Kong are actors as Alexander Skarsgård as Dr. Nathan Lind and Rebecca Hall as Dr. Ilene Andrews. Skarsgård’s Lind is a noted geologist and former Monarch scientist who has been written off as a ‘fringe scientist’, but with the help of Hall’s Andrews, he’s able to embark on a perilous quest to return Kong to his homeland of the Hollow Earth. Skarsgard really plays out the everyman in this one, and it’s great to see him in a totally different heroic light, as an almost accidental hero. While Hall brings a care and nurturing to the role of Dr. Ilene Andrews, and she’s intent on doing the right thing by Kong.
On the flip side to this we have the return of Millie Bobby Brown as Madison Russell, now a precocious teenager who is seeking to get to the heart of a technological conspiracy that is causing Godzilla to wreak havoc worldwide. Joining her are Brian Tyree Henry as Bernie Hayes, a crazed conspiracy theorist and Julian Dennison as Josh Valentine, Madison’s friend and accomplice who gets dragged kicking and screaming into the action. The grouping of these three actors and their vastly different characters lead to plenty of fun, and Wingard uses the conspiracy theory of this film’s narrative to empower the story and keep the audience on edge through a combination of suspense and comedy.
In terms of the cinematic experience, Godzilla vs Kong makes the most of the big screens vast canvas size and trust me when I say that you’ll love every single frame of this massive blockbuster. Wingard’s focus is squarely on the epic, and his use of large wide-angles and scenery and settings that amp up the size and scale of his titan figures in Godzilla and Kong puts you headfirst into the action. Wingard also focuses in on the beauty and wonder of not only our world, but the Hollow Earth, a long-ago, pre-historic lost world where the rules of physics and time have no meaning, and where a savage beauty awaits our team of explorers. The artistry is quite something to look at in this one, and you’ll find yourself wide-eyed with amazement at the visuals that Wingard brings to the screen with Godzilla vs Kong.
It’s also been a while since we’ve had some all-out, massive monster action, and Godzilla vs Kong deliver this with incredible intensity. Wingard knows that both Godzilla and Kong are pound-for-pound the two biggest heavyweights in the world, and it’s fight time for these two titans. Wingard’s focus lends to brawling, smashmouth action and you can be sure that the entire cinema quakes with the force of these two going at one another. While I won’t get into too many specifics with the action, as so to avoid the possibility of spoilers, I will say that the combat that we see Godzilla and Kong engage in is unlike anything we’ve seen them do before, and Wingard and his team bring a great sense of creativity and action to the monster fight scenes of Godzilla vs Kong.
While some might dismiss Godzilla vs Kong as a simple film of monster fights and blockbuster fun, in my own view, Wingard explores some very deep themes such as the search for a home, but more importantly on the interaction and relationship that is shared between technology and nature. Through his narrative, Wingard explores humanity’s desire ‘to play god’ and control our environment and juxtaposes this with the power of nature and its explosive force. The film’s story explores this in a very interesting way, and this collision of the technological and the organic comes together into a frightening battle in the film’s final act that is sure to make audiences sit up and take notice.
For audiences who are wanting pure escapism and some blockbuster, popcorn thrills it simply doesn’t get much better than Godzilla vs Kong, and this one really makes for a fun watch. My suggestion is to buy the ticket and take the ride with Godzilla vs Kong because this one will amp up your adrenaline and settles the question of who the king really is.
Image: Warner Brothers Pictures
