Godzilla vs Kong Movie Review
Growing up Godzilla was my favorite Titan. I used to watch Son of Godzilla, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, and Mothra vs. Godzilla all the time. I loved Godzilla! As I got older I started to gravitate more towards Kong. He was more human and seemed like he just wanted to be understood, respected, and protect his home. While I feel the newer MonsterVerse movies do not capture the same feel as the older movies I have still enjoyed the newer Godzilla and Kong movies. Well, now we have Godzilla vs Kong which is out now on HBO Max! What did I think? Here is my full Godzilla vs Kong movie review! (FYI: Spoilers below, but I won’t spoil who wins the battle of the Titans.)
My Godzilla vs Kong Movie Review
Let’s start out by setting one thing straight. While Godzilla’s name shows up before Kong’s in the title of the movie, the movie is really about Kong. It’s true! A good portion of the movie is about Kong and him trying to find his true home. Which was very entertaining to watch, but the other main parts of the movie were basically a journey to the center of the earth, or Hollow Earth as it is, and monster fights.
The CGI
The CGI in Godzilla vs Kong is AMAZING, and I cannot wait to watch it on the big screen. The battles between Kong, Godzilla, and MechaGodzilla are the best battles, I feel, of the whole MonsterVerse to date. They draw you in and get your heart racing. While I found the water fight scene to not be 100% believable I still highly enjoyed it, but it is the Hong Kong fight scenes that took my breath away. The use of bright neon colors of the city, skyscrapers, colors of the sky, glass flying everywhere is just spectacular. Throw in Kong using an ax made out of one of Godzilla’s scales. (Chef’s kiss) I want to congratulate every artist who worked on those scenes. You all created an epic piece of cinematic art.
The Characters and Acting
On the flip side, I personally feel they didn’t even try for any character development for any of the characters in the movie, except for Kong. Kong had a great story arc and provided the best performance out of anyone in the film. Yes, you read that correctly. The best actor/character of the film was a CGI character. Haha! The movie boasts a great cast in Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, and more, but you could replace any one of those actors and I don’t feel like it would make a difference in the film. Even the relationship they tried to focus on between Kong and the girl named Jia fell flat. The character development in the non-CGI characters is that bad. But, in a way, I guess that could be the point of the movie.
Now, I do hope that in the future they explore more of Hollow Earth and the origins of Kong’s family. I would love to see the war they mention in the movie between Kong’s family/ancestors and Godzilla.
My Rating
But can a movie rely on its CGI alone to make it a good movie? I had high hopes for Godzilla vs Kong and unfortunately, they were not met. (It is a downer when the best parts of a movie are the CGI.) Also, even though I feel Godzilla vs Kong is a great addition to the MonsterVerse, and the Titan battle scenes are epic, I feel, it is not the best movie in the MonsterVerse. Because of this, I give Godzilla vs Kong a B-.
