MOVIE REVIEW: FTN reviews Godzilla Vs Kong

Godzilla Vs Kong (12a)
Directed by: Adam Wingard
Starring: Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown and Rebecca Hall 
Runtime: 1hr 53mins

The epic next chapter in the cinematic Monsterverse pits two of the greatest icons in motion picture history against one another – the fearsome Godzilla and the mighty Kong – with humanity caught in the balance.

The culmination of Legendary’s MonsterVerse that started with 2014’s Godzilla via stop-offs on Skull Island and a battle to crown the King of the Monsters, Godzilla vs Kong is an absolute mess of a film that would have been infinitely better (well, at least one star) on the big screen.

Frustratingly, there is an entertaining film in here.

Brian Tyree Henry, Millie Bobby Brown and Julian Dennison have great chemistry together but keep getting stuck in half thought out situations that undercut the charming trio. Kaylee Hottle is genuinely heart-warming as a young deaf Iwi native who forms a special bond with Kong; she is also responsible for a great running joke in the movie.

The action is electric (literally); it looks spectacular and the booming sound adds weight to the mighty titans’ blows in a way things like Transformers never did and the creatures themselves look magnificent with Kong especially being capable of conveying sadness, torment and ferocity.

I admire the confidence of Alexander Skarsgård describing his character as a mix of Indiana Jones and Romancing the Stone, when the reality is he has the charisma and charm of a Sam Worthington/Scott Eastwood lovechild.

Eiza González seems to have sauntered in from auditioning for Draco Malfoy with her only purpose being to intermittently threaten that “her father will hear about this!”, the brilliant Lance Reddick has a pointless blink-and-you’ll miss it cameo, while everyone’s favourite DILF Kyle Chandler spends his little screen time more concerned with how loose his tie is than his daughter fecking off to the other side of the world in the middle of the world’s biggest monster mash.

Realistically, the plot of these films is to make a somewhat plausible excuse for these two icons to fight each other with as little regard for civilian life and building integrity as possible and it’s here where the film’s biggest failure lies. The villain’s convoluted plan is as poorly constructed as the security to their top-secret facilities, the dialogue is so toe-curlingly, soap opera bad I half-expected Dr Drake Ramoray to wander in with an update on Kong’s condition.

But it isn’t a total bust; the fight scenes are spectacular with one including a genuinely brilliant nod to Lethal Weapon and it doesn’t skimp on providing a definitive winner in the Godzilla vs Kong throwdown and there are some great gags, however, four films into the Monsterverse and there still isn’t a definitive tone or direction as it hops from drama to comedy without ever really landing on either.

Director Adam Wingard made two original crackers with The Guest and You’re Next but seems to struggle when handed existing properties as his forgettable Blair Witch movie and horrendous adaptation of Death Note can attest. This, along with Godzilla vs Kong, has me worried for his next two projects: a sequel to Face/Off and a Thundercats movie.

3 out of 5 nerds