Godzilla vs. Kong Spoiler Review

Godzilla vs. Kong has been one of the most anticipated movies to come out during the COVID-19 pandemic, and if it wasn't for the virus, this certainly would have been a major blockbuster. Set up from three previous movies, Godzilla vs. Kong used its rebooted franchise history to tell a story bigger than just the two titans. No movie is perfect, but here are some specific details that Godzilla vs. Kong did well or could have done better.

Fight Scenes

Even thought this movie was under two hours long, it felt extremely drawn out. The plot following the real people in the movie (that no one honestly cares about) bogs down what we actually want to see, and that is a brawl. This movie is called Godzilla vs. Kong for a reason, and that is because we want to see them throw down with each other. Even though the fight scenes should have been longer, they were still as entertaining as expected.

Godzilla and King Kong fought three times with three different factors contributing to the outcome, and that was really a genius way to show how a fight between the two Kaiju would go. Of course Godzilla would beat King Kong when it water is involved in any way, but once Kong got his axe, it was game over for the King of the Monsters. However, on dry land with no weapons, Godzilla reigns supreme. At the end of the movie, we had an answer, and that is the kind of closure that isn't often given in these types of movies.

Mecha-Godzilla

Let's face it, Mecha-Godzilla was the coolest antagonist to help spice up this movie. The introduction of the robotic Kaiju is the only aspect of the storyline that made keeping up with the plot worth it. Not only was he visually stunning, he was an absolute monster, tearing apart both Kong and Godzilla individually. Eventually he did get his head torn off, but there isn't a Kaiju in history that could take on both King Kong and Godzilla at the same time, so Mech-Godzilla so far truly is the most powerful villain of this rebooted franchise.

The Acting

Hot take: You can't make a monster movie, fill it with mostly scenes involving real actors, and have those actors be bad. Not only is it disappointing that we didn't get longer fight scenes, but the horrible acting from most of the cast is just an extra slap in the face. Alexander Skarsgard was extremely flat, with his character being incredibly unlikeable despite his heroic efforts in the final leg of film. Rebecca Hall and Millie Bobby Brown were just overall unremarkable, with Brian Tyree Henry's character being perhaps the most annoying to ever appear on film.

The only actor in this movie that showed any solid chops was actually Julian Dennison, who managed to not only give a memorable performance as the comic relief, but embodied the spirit of his character and never strayed from it. By all intensive purposes, Dennison was the leading man of this movie in my mind, with the stock of the other actors going down significantly.

Why Was Lance Reddick in this Movie?

The headline says it all: Why was Lance Reddick in this movie? He has one scene where he talks to Kyle Chandler's character for less than a minute. It was distracting, bewildering, and pretty insulting to Lance Reddick. He was a fine addition to the cast, and could probably act circles around the movie's leading man, but his role was cut down to being practically a speaking extra. It's not like he doesn't have name and face recognition, yet he got maybe five lines. If I can't get a Kong vs. Godzilla fight scene that lasts more than ten minutes, then I at least want the rest of that time filled with some Lance Reddick.

Stars

I would give this film three out of five stars. Despite its downfalls, I would watch it again. I wouldn't pay money or go to the theatres, but if it came out TV and I could fast forward to the actual fight scenes, I would definitely rewatch it for the action.