Godzilla Vs Kong review · 5:45pm Apr 5th, 2021
So, I've finally seen the biggest film, in a literal sense, 2021 had to offer. The matchup of a century, and a nerd's wet dream. Now, the question is does it live up to the hype? Spoilers to follow.
Well, you came for the rematch of a century and on that front, at least the film will deliver.
Like *holy shit* this easily has the best monster fights thus far. It's not just the lighting, it's how *long* they go on interrupted. Like there's barely a single cutaway. They're brutal as well, as you'd expect, and do make use of the environment. Kong using buildings as trees for example. The final match-up between the two, well even with a confirmed victor it's easily arguable it could have gone either way.
My favorite bit is the *look* Godzilla gives him when he wins. A pure "I could kill you if I wanted. Don't make me." type of expression. Apparently, Kong does bow to someone. I find it hilarious the Japanese monster wins in an American film, while Toho said Kong won in the Japanese original.
That is just plain wrong, that is a borderline sadistic laugh. Good to see G's back to his old jackass self from the Showa era.
The film's a personal victory for me as a MechaGodzilla fan, as he's not just the *biggest* version of the character -seriously, he towers over an already gigantic Godzilla- but he's also the deadliest. A facsimile of the Big Guy's atomic breath, missile pods, and those massive arms. It's very telling that Kong *and* Godzilla can barely hold him back.
I should note for mythology nerds, Orochi who was King Ghidorah's basis was defeated by getting him drunk. And MechaGodzilla AKA MechaGhidorah was defeated by whiskey poured on a control panel. Fridge brilliance applies and I wonder if the filmmakers knew about this story.
Ghidorah truly reborn... or is he? Are all of Ghidorah's neurons trapped in one head now, meaning all three personalities are fighting for control thus driving him even more insane?
...or was Kevin always this brutal? Or maybe there's just base instincts left and little personality. Hilariously though, this film means Ghidorah has been decapitated three times.
You can hear Kevin thinking: "Oh no... not again..."
Now... unfortunately there is a tradeoff as compared to Skull Island or KoTM this does have the weakest human story thus far. Mark Russell is basically a cameo, and the Chen twins never got to appear.
Maddie gets a male tagalong, who... honestly I can't tell if anything he did Maddie couldn't have. Ren Serizawa, well he barely gets a line and his relationship with his father is barely commented on. Like, we don't know *why* he sided with Apex. My theory is this. In his eyes, he saw Godzilla as responsible for his father's death. Which from a certain point of view isn't strictly incorrect, but now he wants revenge.
He and Mark could have gotten an exchange or two. Like they both lost people to the King. That would have been worth some dialogue.
Now, the rest of the human cast? Apart from Bernie or Jia -cute, and kinda snarky. Love her!- I can honestly say I don't remember a damn thing about most of them. Godzilla movies are criticized for things like this, I hate when that rings true as it did here. Despite all of the film's flaws... I think it honestly helps to view this as a Showa film with hilariously stupid villains and an equally insane plot. Just with a far bigger budget.
7/10
Well I have to say. Kong didn't use his biggest weapons. When a monkey goes pressured he would do what monkeys do most. Would launch a hand of poop on Godzilla, and that would be a match nobody would want to be part or even win, because monkey poop is something you never want.
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I think this meme sums up the movie, really...
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Well now about Mechinic Godzilla, well I don't have an idea, you have a point. It would need 2 of them to defeat the mechanic Godzilla, but still the debate of the monkey having evil inside of their hearts. I'm telling you. My friend once told me he was pooped by monkeys at Zoo, and that constructed his character. The only thing you can do when a monkey launches poop on you is cry in despair. LOL
Now that I've finally seen the movie for myself I feel like I can comment and read this through. XD
I had a lot of fun with it, and very much agree with you on saying that it's a big-budget reskin of one of the classic Showa-era movies. I also fully agree with you about MechaGodzilla - I really love that this movie basically mixes together all the previous live-action versions of him (built to combat Godzilla; reverse-engineered from King Ghidorah; runs amok; alien-driven weapon of mass destruction) to make something really freaky and yet, evilly cool too.
This movie was a rollercoaster ride. Took me a little while to get into it at first, what with the human characters getting the plot set up and underway, but when that fight at sea began? Holy shit. This is how you do giant monster action.