I watched Godzilla vs Kong last night and here are my thoughts on it.
First, you must see or at least read the plot on Wikipedia, the movie predecessors, Godzilla: Mother of Monsters and Kong: Skull Island.
Godzilla vs Kong is basically a sequel to both movies, however the movie starts off so fast and everything is happening so quickly, I am not sure that even if you have watched the movies you would have any idea what is happening and why.
What throws you off as a viewer is also the fact that there is everything in the movie, and I mean everything, so much that it feels like bits and pieces from other movies have been pasted together creating a mish-mash of different movies, including, but not limited to Journey to the Center of the Earth, Transformers, Avatar, Jurassic Park, Aliens etc.. From monsters to space vehicles that can cross “gravity wells”…or veils.
Another thing that is an issue is that most human characters are just observers, bystanders there are even characters that are of absolute no importance, like Maya Simmons. The titans, Godzilla and Kong are so immense and powerful, that maybe it is for the best, it feels more real that humans are simply helpless and there is nothing they can do. Despite being the drivers of the plot the humans feel tiny and insignificant at all times.
What you will like about the movie:
– CGI and effects are nicely done, great to look at
– the fights between the titans
– Kong – he is the reluctant anti-hero, who just knows he is above it all, they’ve painted him very well
– The Hollow Earth, ok, the concept is physically impossible, but it is a fantasy movie. In any case you will love the otherworldly aesthetics of the Hollow Earth, the monsters and the physics of it too, oh yes, there was a movie with Upside Down gravity too, with Kristen Dunst.
– there isn’t much humor, but the few jokes were really good
What you might not like as much:
– the extremely fast pace
– no character development
– along with the fast pace, poor introduction into the movie
– trying to fit in all sorts of genres in two hours
Screencaps and plot (and spoilers):
The movie’s characters are split in two groups, and they do not interact between each other at all. The first group includes Madison Russel, her friend Josh and Bernie, who try to uncover what is Apex Cybernetics up to, believing that Godzilla’s attack on land are not random and that she is not in war with humanity.
The second group follows Kong with Nathan Lind, Ilene Andrews and Jia, who believe that they must help Kong to defend himself and them against Godzilla. They are hired by Walter Simmons, the head of Apex Cybernetics, to go to Hollow earth and procure the only weapon against Godzilla.
The first battle between Godzilla and Kong happens in Tasman Sea, while on the way to Antarctica, to the entrance of Hollow Earth.
So, what does not feel adequate here is that, while Godzilla has the upper hand, and throughout the movie it is clear that she is extremely intelligent, they will decide to full her by “playing dead”. But, maybe she just leaves them be, because she has other plans.
The “conspiracy theory crew, from the ruins of the Apex Cybernetcs in Florida, climgs on a maglev pod (with a skullcrawler on board) and heads to Hong Kong.
Now, comes the best part of the movie, Hollow Earth, entering from Antarctica, where Kong is flown. To explain on Hollow Earth, the premise is that the earth is actually hollow, between the mantle and the core and it is a habitable zone from where all the Titans originate, however in order to get there there is a strong gravity shift, which will crush you unless you are a titan or flying a HEAV.
Once there, you will notice that Hollow Earth has two bottoms and gravity pulls in both ways, being the weakest in the middle. This means that you can jump from bottom to bottom, or ceiling to bottom. The laws of physics have a lot to say about this, but hey, it is only a movie. They could have made it with one floor (just like in the book), the two direction gravity is added for coolness.
And while, these guys are beneath the earth, the crew on the surface discovers Walter Simmons’ plans, Godzilla travels to Hong Kong too and starts the party.
And few happy shots for the end:
Size of screencaps: 3840×1610.
The biggest movie parallel that I can draw is that it is a lot like Batman v Superman. Not only do the names are following the same pattern, but even the plotline is the same. Two heroes of the previous movies, are coerced to fight between each other, only at the end to find the common enemy and defeat it together. Ok, Superman died in Batman v Superman, but so did Kong and both were revived by a weaponized box, Superman in the Justice League movie, while Kong in the same.