Directed by Adam Wingard
Starring Alexander Skarsgard, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Shun Oguri, Eiza Gonzalez, Kyle Chandler, and Demian Bichar
Backstory
What an amazing journey it’s been for the MonsterVerse. It all started when Legendary Entertainment got the rights to Godzilla and gave us the 2014 American film. Then they got the rights to King Kong, and gave us Kong: Skull Island. Hearts were all aflutter when they announced that, with the rights to these two titans under their same roof, they would eventually be giving us the rematch of the century. A King Kong vs. Godzilla with today’s modern effects? Sign me up. Sadly, didn’t get to see this in theatres, with movie theatres in my part of the world still closed because of the pandemic. So was it worth the $25 on PVOD?
Plot
It’s been a few years of relative peace between humans and the Titans, thanks to Godzilla becoming the Alpha. But then, out of nowhere, Godzilla attacks a facility owned by Apex Cybernetics. Madison Russell (that’s Millie Bobby Brown from the last film) is convinced that Apex Cybernetics did something to provoke Godzilla, and teams up with a conspiracy theory podcaster to get to the bottom of it. Meanwhile, over on Skull Island, Monarch has Kong safely confined. Because Kong and Godzilla are both Alphas, it’s theorized that if their paths ever crossed, it would be a battle of apocalyptic proportions. But Apex comes to Monarch and Dr. Ilene Andrews — the scientist studying Kong — with a proposal. It’s theorized that all these Titans came from an underground world, and in that world is an immense power source that all these Titans draw energy from. Apex Cybernetics wants to return Kong to the underground world in the hopes Kong will guide them to this power source so Apex can study it. It turns out Apex Cybernetics is playing a dangerous game…one that will eventually lead to Kong and Godzilla throwing down.
What I Liked
You’ve come to see Godzilla and Kong throw down, and throw down they do. The special effects are phenomenal, as the giant monster battles are everything you want in movies like this. I like how Kong is our main character, as we follow his journey down to the underground world and his quest to find more like him. And speaking of the underground world, there’s some fantastic world-building going on as they expand the world of the MonsterVerse.
What I Didn’t Like
As I’ve lamented before, the big problem with these kinds of films is they can never figure out what to have the humans do. This one goes a little too far in that direction, as we barely get time to learn people’s names or their motivations. Yeah, I know I came for the giant monster fights, but would it have really been so bad to find out a little more about the humans and why they’re here?
Final Verdict
You came to see the giant monsters fight, and fight they do. As I said when I saw that first trailer, Kong winding up and punching Godzilla in the face is exactly the kind of ridiculousness I need right now, and the film certainly delivered on that. Well worth the $25.