Godzilla x Kong (might as well add x Jurassic World x Transformers x Planet of the Apes with how far off the rails this franchise has gone) is the latest entry in WB’s MonsterVerse. If I took one thing away from this movie, it’s that perhaps I treated King of the Monsters too harshly.
Remember when the Fast and Furious franchise was about street racing? That thought kept crossing my mind during my time watching Godzilla x Kong. Both are franchises that feel the incessant need to one-up themselves with each new instalment, growing to a point where they barely resemble what they were in the beginning. GxK is doing far too much, and the lore has become so absurdly stupid that it’s difficult to muster up much interest in the plot anymore. It overcomplicates what should be simple, dumb fun, especially in regards to the excruciatingly dull human characters.
Mere months ago, Minus One showed us that it’s possible to have a compelling human story and epic Kaiju action work in harmony. I realize this comparison isn’t entirely fair because, aside from both featuring Godzilla, these are two very different types of movies. I’m not asking for another somber wartime drama, but am I really asking too much wanting characters that are somewhat interesting? And listen - the fact of the matter is, as much as I’m sure many of you would love a humanless Godzilla/Kong movie filled with non-stop kaiju action, there realistically needs to be a human component for it to work. This franchise just keeps getting worse at incorporating people into the spectacle.
But hey, you’re not here for the lousy human characters. You’re here for some monkey vs lizard action, and this entry delivers on that promise, albeit less successfully than past movies. The kaiju brawls are big, ferocious and impressively animated, with some great moments sure to please both general audiences and hardcore fans. There’s a cool sequence where gravity plays a role in the action, which was by far my favourite part of the movie. The bulk of the plot takes place in hollow earth, which, while beautifully rendered, removes one of this franchises strongest elements - a sense of scale. Getting to see these behemoths wreak havoc in real world settings shows us how massive they are. Think of the halo jump from 2014’s Godzilla, or the aircraft carrier fight in GvK. These monsters are gigantic. Hollow earth fails to convey the staggering scale the series is known for, and we really only get a few scenes on the surface that display their true size.
Hollow Earth seems like an appropriate setting for such a hollow movie. Godzilla x Kong delivers plenty of epic kaiju fights, but forgets to deliver an engaging plot to go along with the action. I went in looking for nothing more than dumb fun. Why was I so bored?
2/5
Review by: Benjamin Garrett
#review #godzilla #kong