Godzilla vs. Kong

After the previous entry I didn’t expect anything from this Mosterverse, but Godzilla vs. Kong turned out to be quite good fun. You have to approach it accepting the fact that it’s a fantasy spectacle about giant monsters, and forget about logic and physics. Visually, it’s top notch, the fights have substance this time, and the story… well, I wouldn’t say it was interesting – the human characters are still too insignificant for that –, but there were a couple of surprises not included in the trailers. It’s a shame about that line with the black conspirator and the two teenagers, I would discard it and sort if differently. (03/31/2021)

Kong II, king of the monsters. I could practically copy my comments from the other Godzilla reviews, with perhaps one positive amendment, that this time there was at least something to see during the fight scenes. However, you still have to spend an incredibly long time watching the inconsequential, clichéd, and absolutely intolerable characters, some of whom are on screen just to stare up at the sky and mindlessly repeating the catchy monster names. Also, I have to say that even though I was in such distress, I was still somehow waiting for the screenwriters to add another act to the storyline we have seen a million times before, which would provide at least one element of surprise. However, it was not to be, so the movie ends, and you go, "Oh, was that it?" I had to shake my head at the obvious references to 2001: A Space Odyssey, the first Star Wars movie, and I am guessing Tron, unless I did not imagine that due to the excess of neon lights. Also, throwing knowing references at the audience does not necessarily make a good movie. The only thing that lifted my spirits is that it all seems like the swan song of the series, and I sincerely hope it is. (04/02/2021)

The most useless CGI fest of the year, where the characters suck and the script sucks. Technically, Godzilla vs Kong draws heavily on its predecessors and offers absolutely nothing extra. Kong Skull Island, for example, was technically imaginative and delightfully mysterious. This sequel didn't necessarily have a brain, but it could have at least honored the previous installments, or the Godzilla film from 2014. (04/17/2021)

The massive trailer campaign hinted from the start that there would be something more besides Godzilla and King Kong's bickering, which is why I ignored most of the trailers and relied on the element of surprise. Each of the previous three films was formally distinct, and while I strongly prefer the dark and brooding Edwards's Godzilla, I've found the development of MonsterVerse so far at least interesting and entertaining. Godzilla vs. Kong confirms this trend and delivers yet another different experience, the qualities of which, however, fall short of the enormous expectations as far as I’m concerned. Wingard doesn't give a damn about atmosphere and serves up a popcorn romp where events and geographical locations alternate with disproportionate speed and where none of the dozen characters are given enough room to stand out. The film obviously develops the concept of the King of the Monsters, and humanity, previously helpless and fearfully cowering at the presence of the titans, finally develops into a fundamental agent of events that directly controls the movement and actions of the monsters. It's almost disheartening to see the dominant Kong being dragged around in chains for half the film, with random songs from the last century occasionally playing. Mostly, though, it jumps furiously between several lines, one reminiscent of an infiltration tale from Stranger Things and another of Journey to the Centre of the Earth, with music blaring in to drown out much of the dialogue. The visual effects are certainly great and Wingard surprises with playful camera angles during the fight sequences, so the action itself is easily entertaining and the second half in particular creates some rhythm. Personally, however, I was expecting a darker and more coherent result and I can't help being bitterly disappointed. 60% (04/03/2021)

A review from the perspective of a sweaty intellectual who has never left the house, after the 10th Mank and Nomadland without any knowledge of Kaiju, convinced that it is another artistic black and white romantic drama full of emotions, erotica, long shots, lyricism, allegories, and character development, and is ultimately horrified by the result. Oh well. I was hoping that we would watch Godzilla as a housewife drinking wine and constantly taking pills, taking care of four little Godzilla-cubs, and soon a man would come into her life and change it. Yes, King Kong in a tailor-made Armani suit. He is respected lawyer currently dealing with a dark case in the King Skull Tribunal, travels across the country and sees emotionally exhausted Godzilla in a picturesque cafe. Love at first sight, deep romance, emotions to the bone, she doesn't mind at all that King Kong is black because she is not racist, but on the other hand, she is strongly pious and has a dark, drug-filled past. They both experience the most beautiful moments of their lives, but soon there is a crisis that culminates like in The War of the Roses, and, in a plot twist, Godzilla learns that King Kong is actually gay and a spineless scum. Unfortunately, the drama does not unfold with intense atmosphere and an emphatic portrayal the characters, sighed the intellectual sadly. Once every two years, a proper monster movie comes out and it's a problem, but the fact that 400 dramas and soap operas are released annually for a few euros, that's fine. Finally, a movie where I don't have to watch the clock, I don't look around in boredom, thinking that a spider is crawling on the wall, and I won't fall asleep until I finish the last bite of popcorn. The action is properly grand, epic, the fights have verve, the journey to the center of the Earth is more original than another movie about a man with Alzheimer's. The clash of the two titans is definitely more interesting than another dull story, of which there are plenty, and whoever doesn't like it can go watch Malcolm & Marie. 8/10. (04/01/2021)