Score: B-
Directed by Adam Wingard
Starring Godzilla, King Kong; Alexander Skarsgard, Millie Bobby Brown, Brian Tyree Henry
Running time: 113 minutes
Rated PG-13
Long Story Short: Godzilla vs. Kong is Hollywood's first big step, literally and figuratively, back into theaters as the pandemic begins to lift enough for us to venture out again. It delivers a pair of title fight matches between the classic heavies that are worth the price of admission (esp. for those of us starved for the theatrical experience). Sadly, it can't also overcome the genre's plot and human character pitfalls. If conditions are right in your area (and you've been vaccinated!!), this is a perfectly nice outing.
In a present-day version of the world, monsters stalk the earth. Godzilla mysteriously roams the seas, occasionally terrifying coastal cities with his appearance. Meanwhile, the skyscraper-sized ape known as Kong is contained on a far off island by Monarch, the monster research organization. After a brief but devastating Godzilla attack on a tech corporation in Pensacola, a conspiracy theorist podcaster, Bernie, follows his wild imagination to very real, insidious plans. In an effort to gain some control over Godzilla's immense power, Monarch agrees to transport Kong to a secret experimental site. But now there are two monsters at large in the world - and they don't like each other.
Godzilla vs. Kong is, above all, a mega-blockbuster about enormous monsters making a spectacle on the big screen, and it fulfills this objective pretty darn well. There are two primary action sequences, and Wingard and the visual effects team come through with fun, exciting, bone-rattling showdowns. The first is particularly effective, taking place at sea with the navy involved; not only is the setting different than usual in these monster movies, but the context adds some elements other than which monster hits the other harder/more often. Now, not all the action is great; there are several scenes featuring one monster or the other, and they come off rather humdrum, almost afterthoughts compared to the main two (the final final battle - blessedly short - also just shatters the ludicrous meter into pieces). But the monsters themselves are also just amazingly rendered, even when "quiet", making the overall film a true theater showcase.
Once you get past the main draw, an admittedly exhilarating 20-30 minutes (or more?) of action, the surrounding elements plummet in quality. Worst is the plot, or the sorry excuse for one we get. This film is a sequel to two solo Godzillas and a Kong, so it's understandable (and probably saves some time) to just take the existence of these monsters as a given, though the off-handed references to them can be amusing. There are also, though, many moments of "wait, did I miss something?"; again, you can just kind of go with it, because the main point is the monster mashing, but even for a blockbuster, there is little effort to introduce or explain some important organizations or plot points. The piece de resistance of the story is a flabbergasting concept called the Hollow Earth, which seems to be an alternate world that you get to by going to the center of the earth, where gravity is reversed, and... you get the point. The entire point of it seems to be to make the rest of the plot work (sort of...).
Finally, the people involved - yes, there are human characters, though far less important than the title monsters - are a mixed bag, at best. The main leads - the usual white male hero, Nathan, played by Alexander Skarsgard, and the scrappy kid everyone overlooks, Madison, played by Millie Bobby Brown - are vague and uninteresting to the point of almost blending into the background. A young deaf girl, Jia, is pretty cliche (and often feeds the ridiculous plot points), but played effectively adorably by Kaylee Hottle. Just two actors look like they're actually having fun, and transmit that to the audience: Brian Tyree Henry's conspiracy theorist podcaster, Bernie; and Demian Bichir's arrogant, scenery-chewing CEO.
***
Godzilla vs. Kong has some really entertaining monster melees, but the further from the experience that I get, the more it feels weighed down by the ridiculous plot points and feeble characters that surround it. If you don't mind staying home, I would recommend Pacific Rim as a superior monster movie any day. But for simply having the advantage of being the first big blockbuster released in theaters after the yearlong pandemic shutdown, I'm cutting it some slack. There really is nothing like seeing a movie in the theater (even, maybe especially, the ones you might not bother seeing at home, like this one).
*By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66522708
