The title says it all. This movie isn’t about deep characterization. Or allegories about our current times. Or thematically potent studies about the animal in us all. None of that. It’s about a giant lizard fighting a giant gorilla, and how cool that can look if it’s done right. And it’s about time podcasters got to drive a major story about a CGI monster fight, am I right? Boy this movie is silly in fun ways.
We start Godzilla vs. Kong with the world at relative peace. Kong (after the 1970s set Kong: Skull Island) is enclosed in a protective dome where Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall) and her adopted daughter Jia (Kaylee Hottle) attempt to understand and converse with the ape, who is starting to get restless in his prison, and Godzilla has been chilling in the ocean since his King of Monsters run. That peace gets broken when Godzilla attacks the Apex Cybernetics facility off the Florida coast, killing a bunch of humans in the process. Desperate to solve the problem, Walter Simmons (Demian Bichir), CEO of Apex, and his daughter Maia (Eiza Gonzalez) enlist Dr. Nathan Lind (Alexander Skarsgard) to help see if Lind’s “Hollow Earth” theory might be a place to send all the monsters back to. Back in Florida Gozilla whisperer Madison (Millie Bobby Brown) hooks up with podcaster and conspiracy theorist Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry) to see why the previously tame Godzilla would attack again.
In a movie built around two giant monsters fighting each other, the people in the movie are always going to get the short shrift. Adam Wingard and the writers know this, so they cast instantly likable people like the adorable Kaylee Hottle, Brian Tyree Henry, and Millie Bobby Brown to let their charm do the work the screenplay will not. In the serious parts you cast overqualified actors like Alexander Skarsgard, Rebecca Hall, and Demain Bichir to give your story heft without having to do much writing, letting the actors cook with their facial expressions, and occasionally giving them an inspirational speech or monologue to earn their oversized paycheck. Sure none of the performances are going on any of these actors’ highlight reels, but they do their due diligence to keep the movie afloat just long enough to get to the next mega skirmish.
But Adam Wingard knows he has to nail the monster sequences, and thankfully he does. Like Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali, we globe hop and have battles in multiple locations: we’ve got a Florida Fracas, The Motion in the Ocean, and the big one: the Hong Kong Godzilla Throng, with a twist you’ll see coming miles away but is no less exciting. Each fight locale brings something different to the battle: we’re on sea, in the air, and best of all, surrounded by the Hong Kong building skyline laser show: the glitz and glam. Godzilla shows off his blue laser blast show and Kong flies across the building rooftops trying to get a final blow in. The varied nature of the fights with just enough time in between each one means each battle sizzles with anticipation when it starts to unfold. Wingard even throws in a beautiful wordless sequence where Kong explores the Hollow Earth on his own, replete with grand visuals and gorgeous CGI landscapes. As fun as those battles are, the Hollow Earth sequence might be the best part of his film.
Most of you are probably wondering though: who wins? There is definitely a loser, but the biggest winner is us, the movie watchers! I mean, when else can you say you saw a 50 ft tall ape stop a blue laser from a 50 ft tall lizard while he flies through the air during a laser show in Hong Kong? That statement is so crazy silly that you can’t help but feel like 8 year old you got some wish fulfilled, and you can sleep better knowing that one more bucket list item has been crossed off. All hail the Hong Kong Godzilla Throng!