Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) Re-Review by Jacob-the-Fox-Critic on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

"The myths are real. There was a war, and they're the last ones standing."

Lets continue our Godzilla x Kong marathon with this long-awaited rematch between two of cinema's most iconic movie monsters as a new threat emerges and secrets are revealed; Godzilla vs. Kong.

Five years after the events of "King of the Monsters", Godzilla and Kong are currently the last known active Titans on Earth.

On Skull Island, the climate has been destabilized, and Monarch now watches over Kong, who resides within a giant dome.

Kong is visited by Jia, the last Iwi native and Ilene Andrews' adopted daughter, who is deaf and can communicate with Kong via sign language.

Bernie Hayes, a former employee of the Apex Cybernetics corporation and host of a Titan conspiracy theory podcast, ex-filtrates information suggesting sinister activities at a Pensacola Apex facility.

However, Godzilla suddenly attacks the facility; during the rampage, Bernie discovers a device that resembles the ORCA, previously used to communicate with or control Titans.

Madison Russell, a fan of Bernie's podcast, enlists her friend Josh to investigate Godzilla's attack.

Together they find Bernie and sneak into the wrecked Apex base, discovering a secret facility deep underground.

They are inadvertently locked and transported through an underground monorail to Hong Kong. There, they unwittingly intrude on a test of a mechanical version of Godzilla, telepathically controlled by Ren Serizawa, the son of the late Ishirō Serizawa, through the neural networks from a severed head of King Ghidorah that Apex has retrieved.

The test is cut short due to the power supply's limitations. It is then revealed that Apex executive Walter Simmons intends to harness the power of an energy source in the Hollow Earth, an underground world that is a secret home to the Titans, to overcome the limitations of Mechagodzilla.

Walter recruits Nathan Lind, a former Monarch scientist turned theorist on the Hollow Earth, as a guide in search of the power source.

Although Nathan is initially hesitant because his brother died on an expedition to Hollow Earth owing to a strong reverse-gravitational effect, he agrees after Walter reveals that Apex has developed HEAVs, specialized crafts able to withstand the pressure exerted by the gravity field.

To help guide them to the Hollow Earth in search of the energy source, Nathan goes to Skull Island and meets with Ilene, convincing her to let Kong guide them through the Hollow Earth.

Nathan, Ilene, and an Apex team led by Walter's daughter Maya board a modified barge carrying Kong.

Godzilla attacks the convoy midway through the voyage and fights Kong, but retreats after the ships disable their power and trick him into thinking they are destroyed.

Realizing that Godzilla will continue to come for Kong, they airlift Kong to a Hollow Earth entry point in Antarctica. Jia convinces Kong to enter the tunnel, and the team follows him in the HEAV's.

Inside Hollow Earth, they find an ecosystem similar to Skull Island. While traversing through the landscape, Kong and the team discover his species' ancestral throne room where they find remains of an ancient war with Godzilla's kind and a glowing axe made from the dorsal spines of another member of Godzilla's species.

As they find the power source, the Apex team sends its signature back to their base in Hong Kong, but Godzilla, sensing the energy, makes landfall in the city and directly drills a shaft to the throne room with his atomic breath.

In the ensuing mayhem, Maya and the rest of the Apex team are killed. Kong and the survivors (Ilene, Jia, and Nathan) ascend through the tunnel to Hong Kong, where Godzilla and Kong fight again.

Kong wins but doesn’t finish Godzilla off, which results in Godzilla getting back up for another round. This third engagement ends with Godzilla claiming victory over Kong.

In the Apex base, Ren warns Walter of employing the new Hollow Earth energy source without prior testing, but Walter ignores his pleas and orders him to activate Mechagodzilla.

Bernie, Madison, and Josh are caught by security and brought to Walter. When Mechagodzilla is re-activated with that new energy, it is taken over by Ghidorah’s consciousness lingering in the interface network, kills Walter and Ren, and then attacks Hong Kong, drawing Godzilla's attention.

Godzilla and Mechagodzilla battle; however, Godzilla, weary from his battle with Kong, is overwhelmed. Nathan's team is able to revive Kong, and Jia convinces him to help Godzilla, but Mechagodzilla overpowers both of the Titans.

Will both Titans be able to defeat this mechanical monster?

The story is pretty solid and well written for the most part as while it does have some issues like the other MonsterVerse movies like having some pretty corny dialogue at times, some pretty weak attempts at humor, and the ending with the two titular characters battling a more deadly foe after fighting each other does kinda draw similarities to the ending of "Batman v Superman", but it does still have a great amount of good things going for it like the plot being mostly pretty good and interesting, it does a great job at expanding this universe and introducing Hollow Earth as the home of the Titans, the pacing is really solid, there's some nice references and callbacks to some of the prior Godzilla and Kong movies, and not just the ones from the MonsterVerse, the tone this time around is more balanced, the action scenes and monster fights are once again a huge highlight, and there is some pretty decent drama and solid suspense.

The action scenes of this movie are just as awesome as those from the previous MonsterVerse movies as they can be pretty awesome, intense, and possibly the best ones of the whole series like Godzilla emerging and attacking Pensacola (more specifically the Apex facility), Godzilla and Kong fighting on the Navy ships in the ocean, Kong and the Apex team fighting off the creatures in Hollow Earth, the Apex team betraying and attacking Kong, the big battle between Godzilla and Kong in Hong Kong (say that ten times fast), and the climax where Godzilla and Kong team up to battle Mechagodzilla after both tried and failed to fight him alone.

The film does have a fair amount of heart to it which lead to some charming and heartfelt moments, and these moments mainly revolve around Jia and her time with Kong and attempts to sooth him and calm him down.

The production design is just as good as the previous MonsterVerse movies as it does share many of the same strong qualities like the sets and setpieces being really well made and having some great detail, the actual filming locations featured are really well utilized, the lighting is very solid and effective, and the costumes,makeup, and clothing are all really well crafted.

The special effects are also still incredibly good as they look very awesome and well crafted like the effects and motion capture for Godzilla, Kong, Mechagodzilla, and the creatures of Hollow Earth, the fire and explosions, the destruction, Godzilla's atomic breath, Mechagodzilla's weapons and attacks, the CG backgrounds and enhanced environments, the designs and environments of Hollow Earth, the planes, jets, HEAVs, and battleships, the ocean water, the Monarch dome, and more.

The characters in this are mostly pretty decent as while there are a few like Maia and Guillerman that are pretty forgettable, and Josh is a pretty annoying comic relief, the rest of the characters are still pretty decent and do have some fair chemistry, intrigue, and even some wit to them like the majority of the human characters like the returning Madison, Jia, Dr. Lind, Dr. Andrews, Bernie, Ren, and Walter who's an alright human villain, Godzilla and Kong are both just as awesome and grand as before, and it is really awesome to see them interact and fight, and Mechagodzilla is a pretty good and legit dangerous rival.

The acting is pretty good as the actors all deliver some solid performances like Millie Bobby Brown as Madison, Alexander Skarsgard as Dr. Lind, Rebecca Hall as Dr. Andrews, Brian Tyree Henry as Bernie, Demian Bicher as Walter, Allan Henry and Eric Petey as Kong, the unknown motion-capture actors for Godzilla and Mechagodzilla, and more.

The music by Tom Holkenborg is really solid as his score does sound really nice and well composed, and it does a pretty solid job at capturing the movie's action-packed, mostly lighthearted, intense, suspenseful, and somewhat adventurous tone.

Overall, while it does have some flaws much like the other MonsterVerse movies, this is a really solid and well crafted flick that's really entertaining and engaging, and result in my personal favorite film of the MonsterVerse so far, and might even be better than the original "King Kong vs. Godzilla".

And in January, i'll be giving my thoughts on "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire".

Cast:

Alexander Skarsgård as Dr. Nathan Lind

Millie Bobby Brown as Madison Russell

Rebecca Hall as Dr. Ilene Andrews

Brian Tyree Henry as Bernie Hayes

Shun Oguri as Ren Serizawa

Eiza González as Maia Simmons

Julian Dennison as Josh Valentine

Lance Reddick as Guillerman

Kyle Chandler as Dr. Mark Russell

Demián Bichir as Walter Simmons

Kaylee Hottle as Jia

Hakeem Kae-Kazim as Admiral Wilcox

Ronny Chieng as Jay Wayne

John Pirruccello as Horace

Chris Chalk as Ben

N/A as Godzilla

Allan Henry and Eric Petey as Kong

N/A as Mechagodzilla

Crew:

Directed by Adam Wingard

Screenplay by Eric Pearson and Max Borenstein

Story by Terry Rossio, Michael Dougherty, and Zach Shields

Produced by Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni, Brian Rogers, Mary Parent, Alex Garcia, and Eric McLeod

Music by Tom Holkenborg

Misc.

Based on "Godzilla" by Toho Co., Ltd, and "King Kong" by Merian C. Cooper and Edgar Wallace

Production company: Legendary Pictures

Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures

Release date: March 31, 2021

Runtime: 1 hour, 53 minutes