Review | Godzilla vs. Kong movie review: kaiju showdowns the highlight of Legendary’s epic Monsterverse crossover
- There is lots of great action as the two giants battle it out, including the Hong Kong skyline getting smashed
- This storyline is more like the original 1962 movie, with a rampaging Godzilla, and a deeper dive into sci-fi
3.5/5 stars
In the decades since, Godzilla has transformed into a beloved protector of Japan, if not the world, and Legendary’s Monsterverse franchise has gone to great lengths over the course of three films – Godzilla (2014), Kong: Skull Island (2017) and Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) – to depict both titans as misunderstood yet sympathetic creatures.
And so Godzilla vs. Kong emerges, not as a remake of the Toho classic, but as a heavyweight title bout between two legendary adversaries and sworn enemies, both of whom wield considerable emotional clout with the audience.
After Godzilla launches an unprovoked attack on Apex Cybernetics, a seemingly benevolent tech company, its CEO (Demián Bichir) proposes tapping into a newly-discovered energy source discovered in the planet’s core.
The mission, led by Alexander Skarsgård’s “Hollow Earth” theorist, proposes that Kong guide them to this ancient homeland of all titans, despite the protestations of his Monarch overseer (Rebecca Hall). If Kong is removed from Skull Island, now a Monarch-run containment facility, Godzilla will inevitably come after him. But they do it anyway, Godzilla shows up, and it’s game on.
Godzilla vs. Kong leaves us in little doubt as to where its allegiances lie. Kong, now visibly older, battle-scarred and world-weary, has a broad range of emotions. We watch him bathe, feed, and even converse using sign language with a young girl, Jia (Kaylee Hottle), the last survivor of the island’s indigenous population.