Review: “Godzilla vs. Kong” makes good on its promise of dumb and fun action

Director Adam Wingard puts the titular monsters very much at the forefront in the newest entry in the MonsterVerse.

By Justyn Frutiz, Staff Writer

Godzilla and Kong clash for the first time since 1962 in the fourth installment of the MonsterVerse. (Photo Courtesy of Warner Bros.)

An unstoppable force meets an immovable object in “Godzilla vs. Kong” and the outcome is a mindless, fun, action packed film that does not disappoint.

The film takes place five years after the events of “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” and follows Kong as he searches for his home with his human caretakers Jia (Kaylee Hottle), Dr. Nathan Lind (Alexander Skarsgård) and Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall). The only thing in Kong’s way is Godzilla, who at this point has started attacking human corporations unprovoked and is keen to be the last Titan standing. Elsewhere, conspiracy theorist Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry) — along with kids Josh (Julian Dennison) and Madison (Millie Bobby Brown) — investigate Apex Cybernetics, the corporation Godzilla targeted.

The cinematography and CGI in this film is staggering in how beautiful it is; every shot in this film is so vibrant and full of color. Both Kong and Godzilla are incredibly well animated and designed — considering the whole movie revolves around them, any chink in the CGI would have made the film worse. The fight scenes were shot in such a way that it was clear what was going on and who was winning, something a lot of action films struggle with. The best example of this is the final fight between Kong and Godzilla in Hong Kong; taking place at night, the neon backdrop of the city skyline contrasted with the graceful destruction that the two monsters bring is awe-inspiring.

There are two needle drops in the whole movie and both fail to mesh with the rest of the film, but the big booming score by Dutch composer Junkie XL fits the film like a glove.

The direction by Adam Wingard in this film is brilliant. He manages to pace the film in a way that the viewer never gets bored nor deprived of seeing either of the Titans. Some of the choices he makes in this film are a bit bold, namely making Kong essentially the protagonist and ensuring both characters get their fair licks. Another smart decision was declaring a clear winner, which a lot of versus movies do not do.

The biggest complaint in all the MonsterVerse movies is that the human characters are poorly written and detract from the monsters in them. In this film, the characters are no different but since they serve an actual purpose this time around, their presence is not as deplorable as the previous entries. Performances in this film are satisfactory across the board, which is fine as the film really uses Kong to carry a lot of the emotional weight of scenes anyways.

While not offering much in the story department, “Godzilla vs. Kong” makes up for that in the action department tenfold.