Let's Talk About GODZILLA VS KONG...

You know, despite not being much of a Monster-Verse devotee, I was quite excited to see Godzilla vs. Kong. Firstly, the trailer looked great; especially that final shot in Hong Kong. And secondly, the box office numbers are surprisingly high for a movie released during a worldwide pandemic. Even though I elected to watch it on HBO Max, I reasoned that if Godzilla vs. Kong is doing this well, then there has to be something exceptional about it, right?

…Right?

If I had one gripe with the previous entries - and I know others have pointed this out as well - it’s that the human characters are too thinly-sketched. And while I’m not expecting The Godfather out of a movie about a radioactive lizard fighting an over-sized ape, I also wouldn’t devote so much screen time to people who defy logic in every sense of the word. Godzilla: King of the Monsters was a major offender in that department.

Now to its credit, Godzilla vs. Kong doesn’t take its characters quite as seriously as the other installments did. And with a shorter running time, it does a better job at balancing the sheer spectacle with the human elements. Millie Bobby Brown reprises her tedious role from King of the Monsters, but the added company of Brian Tyree Henry and Julian Dennison allows for some decent comedy. Furthermore, any attempts at dramatizing Brown’s “relationship” with Godzilla are tossed aside for a fast-paced adventure to uncover some mysteries regarding everyone’s favorite kaiju.

Prior to this, my favorite Monster-Verse entry was Kong: Skull Island. Not a perfect movie - and certainly not better than Peter Jackson’s heavily under-appreciated King Kong remake - but a serviceable outing nonetheless. And it’s with Kong when the human drama works best here. The motion capture performance is great. I’ve been a fan of this process ever since The Lord of the Rings trilogy brought the character of Gollum to life, and it still continues to amaze me. Through Kong’s expressions, we get a nice bit of exchange between the ape and a young girl, Jia. It’s all very brief, but still reminiscent of what drew me to Jackson’s film.

But alright, let’s get to the meat of Godzilla vs. Kong. Any crossover with the word “versus” in the title is a fan-driven idea; it doesn’t have to have great thematic depth, just as long as it delivers what the title promises. And my reaction at the end of this movie was… “Is that it?”

Don’t get me wrong. There’s a handful of visceral moments, but the third act ends up mimicking that of Batman v Superman where both titular characters put aside their differences to fight a bigger adversary. In Godzilla vs. Kong, both stop fighting just in time to face off against Mechagodzilla…which is essentially a Transformer. I’d be lying if I said I was completely indifferent to that sequence, but overall I would’ve preferred a climax that didn’t cop out. Say what you will about Freddy vs. Jason or Alien vs. Predator, those movies never lost focus on the conflicts between their respective titular duo. There doesn’t have be a clear winner; just a clear trajectory.

On a final note, it’s worth mentioning the trailer for Godzilla vs. Kong gave away a little too much. I understand one has to really sell a movie (and the preview is very well put together), but lately I’ve watched several films with moments that would’ve been more impactful had I not seen them beforehand. That awesome shot of Kong smashing the axe in Godzilla’s face should’ve been saved for opening day.…