STARRING: ALEXANDER SKARSARD, REBECCA HALL, BRIAN TYREE HENRY, MILLIE BOBBY BROWN, JULIAN DENNISON, AND KAYLEE HOTTLE
DIRECTOR: ADAM WINGARD
DATE: MARCH 31, 2021
The universally known Kaiju, Godzilla, has some of the biggest fan bases dedicated to the franchise, both from the U.S. and in Japan. The famous Kaiju has had many adaptations and holds the record for having over 36 films and counting. Arguably the only monster that could compete with Godzilla’s popularity is America’s Eighth Wonder of the World, King Kong. The concept of which titan would be defeated in battle and which would reign supreme has been a debate that goes back decades. Now with the rise of the Monsterverse franchise, the question will finally be answered in the battle royal, Godzilla vs Kong.
Godzilla vs Kong begins on Skull Island 5 years after the events of Godzilla: King of the Monsters. The opening scene shows King Kong awakening as the sun rises. He is soon joined by his human companion, Jia (Kaylee Hottle), a young native girl of the island. Suddenly, Kong throws a tree into the sky revealing that he’s been trapped in a dome made to look like Skull Island. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall), who is Kong’s caretaker, is introduced to the audience and implies that he has been living in the dome to prevent Godzilla from coming after him.
Meanwhile, Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry) is doing a podcast talking about a conspiracy against Apex Cybernetics. To prove his theory about Apex possibly doing wrong, he sneaks inside the company to steal evidence. As Bernie downloads all of the useful evidence, Godzilla suddenly shows up and attacks the Apex facility. Bernie fortunately survives the attack, but there is still no answer as to what Godzilla has against Apex and destroying all of its facilities. However, Madison Russell (Millie Bobby Brown) also believes in Bernie’s conspiracy and doesn’t think Godzilla has gone rogue for no reason.
The next day Dr. Nathan Lind (Alexander Skarsgard) is in his office reminiscing about his recently deceased brother, but is interrupted by the CEO of Apex, Walter Simmons (Demian Bichir). Simmons goes to Lind because he was impressed with his book about the Hollow Earth Theory and offers him a mission to travel to the Hollow Earth to retrieve a weapon that could be a defense against Godzilla. Lind accepts the offer, but only if he receives help from anther outside force, another Kaiju. Lind convinces Andrews to let Kong help as an ally because he’s the only Kaiju that’s able to wield this weapon and take on Godzilla. Now the two titans will finally face off and see who’s the true dominant force.
Godzilla vs Kong is a fantastic thrill ride that truly lives up to its title. The graphics for the special effects increasingly get better with every entry although the human characters slow down the pacing of the film. It delivers on the concept alone that many long time Kaiju fans have wanted for years. It’s an excellent expansion to the Monsterverse and only promises to get bigger from there.