MOVIE REVIEW: Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)
For the first post-COVID-19 movie I saw in the theaters, I chose a long-awaited sequel to the longest-running franchise in the world: the Godzilla/Gojira franchise. Ever since the original 1954 film about a nuclear annihilation allegory destroying Japan, it has gone on to spawn sequels and imitators. I started my Godzilla love with Godzilla 1985, but it has only grown over the years. More importantly, the general movie-going public’s knowledge of Godzilla has grown with the understanding of his classification as a kaiju (“strange creature” in Japanese), and his relationship to an older American kaiju, King Kong.
As most schoolyard arguments start, it came down to who was more powerful: Kong or Godzilla. Despite the recorded information about both monsters, the argument should have been settled in 1962 with King Kong vs. Godzilla where Kong won (and the rumor of there being two cuts of this film to show either monster winning for nationalist audiences is incorrect). Now the argument continues with Warner Bros.’ attempt to revitalize the kaiju craze with films from the “Monsterverse” franchise with a new installment, Godzilla vs. Kong.
A few actors from the Monsterverse show up, like Millie Bobby Brown (“Stranger Things” [TV]) and Kyle Chandler (King Kong [2005], “Early Edition” [TV], to continue their family drama. Others like Zhang Ziyi and Ken Watanabe do not show up for various reasons. New characters take their place — actors Brian Tyree Henry, Julian Dennison, Shun Oguri, Eiza Gonzalez, and newcomer Kaylee Hottle fill in our cast of characters.
While the human characters carry on with expositing things they shouldn’t know and surviving in disastrous situations, there is an issue: the other surviving kaiju (called “Titans” in the Monsterverse to separate it from the kaiju in Guillermo DelToro’s Pacific Rim franchise) from Godzilla: King of the Monsters are missing. Rodan, Behemoth, Scylla, Methuselah, and many others survived but are nowhere to be seen, nor is the previous state of Titan arrival on Earth addressed. Their presence is acknowledged in the movie’s reality via some posters, but nothing else. It’s a sticking point that was quickly ignored for two reasons: the monster fights and the appearance of a pseudo-scientific concept I find endlessly entertaining.
Dr. Nathan Land (played by Skarsgard, Zoolander, Battleship) is a disgraced scientist that published a book expanding the “Hollow Earth” theory, but it was panned and he was discredited from academic circles. His brother died trying to prove those theories, and now Land has hit the skids. A benefactor in the form of Apex Cybernetics believes in his theory and wants to pay him for his knowledge to travel through the Hollow Earth. The company has perfected top-secret anti-gravity technology in the form of the HEAV (Hollow Earth Aerial Vehicle) that can get them past any gravity anomalies, but they still need a guide to lead them to Hollow Earth.
Enter Kong, still on Skull Island (since the Vietnam War), who is hypothesized to come from the Hollow Earth — like all Titans. That would mean other Titans live in the Hollow Earth (including more like Kong), but Dr. Land is all gung-ho and convinces his friend Dr. Ilene Andrews (played by Hall, Vicky Cristy Barcelona, Professor Marston and the Wonder Women) to have Kong work for them…without wanting to know more about Apex’s desire to reach Hollow Earth.
After a jaunt to Antarctica and Kong leading our cast to the Hollow Earth, we are treated to an amazing panorama. Lush alien jungles lit by an unknown light source, special ore boulders suspended in the sky by opposing gravitational forces, insanely dangerous native kaiju, upside-down mountains, and a collection of Cyclopean architecture that poses more questions about the prior civilization the deeper our cast plumbs into this Lost World(tm).
None of the kaiju seen in the Hollow World had the limbs, let alone the skills, to make the buildings found in the Hollow World; WHO BUILT THIS STUFF?
Beyond that, the focus returns to the titular Titans as they lay waste to and battle in select areas: the Pacific Ocean, Pensacola, Florida (an Apex Cybernetics location), and Hong Kong. The destruction makes me think of all the dead each monster leaves in its wake, and how I am glad this isn’t SHIN GODZILLA (where that version of Godzilla absorbs the corpses of the dead into its body to regenerate). Combat is flashy and creative, with callbacks to the earlier 1962 film mentioned in this review. The movie ends on a happy note, which was a nice change of pace to take my mind of the issues that kept me from movie theaters for the past year. And for that, I thank the makers of Godzilla vs. Kong: you done good.
CHOICE CUTS (SPOILERS AHEAD):
- The monster fights: Knock-down, drag-out, and nasty in some spots, it’s worth the money to see.
- Blink and you’ll miss it: a cameo by Lance Reddick.
- At one point, the movie camera behaves a roller-coaster ride. **HINT HINT**
- Not to be outdone, there is an anti-gravity train tunnel from Pensacola to Hong Kong for covert shipping. Team Godzilla accidentally found their way into a cargo crate bound for Hong Kong via this tunnel and based on their behavior, it was a short trip. It could be like a roller coaster and looked awesome, but the camera cut away for a period of time and cut back just as the crate came to a stop.
- Mechagodzilla makes its first appearance in the Monsterverse — a lithe, robotic version of Godzilla to fight Godzilla. In another universe, this would be like making a Jaeger look like a kaiju…as opposed to making a Jaeger out of a kaiju, which happens in Pacific Rim: Uprising.
- The entirety of Hollow Earth: The designers had a ball playing with gravity limits, upside-down environments, and megafauna from your deepest nightmares. Truly a shout-out to a “Lost World” vibe; chef’s kiss! Unfortunately the questions of who built the buildings in the Hollow Earth realm remain unanswered.
- I do not advocate violence against women, but I have never wanted to punch a beautiful woman so much based on Eiza Gonzalez’s performance. It is a testament to her skill as an actress, previously seen on the El Rey TV series “From Dusk Til Dawn”.
- There was an issue with editing in this movie: I know we’re not making the Snyder cut, but surely we could have spent a little more time lingering on the world of Hollow Earth. Instead, the movie cuts away so fast at the end to keep the movie under 2 hours. Surely we could have cut down on driving sequences or something to give us more of that sweet Hollow Earth action.
- Though his character was sold as a one-note, Brian Tyree Henry’s acting was an amazing turn — learning that he was more than just a conspiracy theorist podcaster was great. If you’ve seen his earlier work (“Atlanta” [TV], If Beale Street Could Talk), you know he’s amazing.
- See how that works? You get a deaf person to play a deaf character. If it worked with Millicent Simmonds in A Quiet Place, Gregory D. Gadson in Battleship, and Kaylee Hottle in this film, then it should work every time you bring visibility to the differently abled. You’ll be surprised how often you get a true performance by someone with the actual disability.
- Is Warner Brothers trying to differentiate the creatures of the Monsterverse from the kaiju of the Pacific Rim universe by using the word “Titan” to describe them? I hope they don’t try to copyright the word titan or kaiju, as nobody should be able to copyright either word. Titan and kaiju are common words of different languages— even if capitalized, italicized, or put into quotation marks. For more information, visit these links.
