Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)
Directed by Adam Wingard
In a time when monsters walk the Earth, humanity’s fight for its future sets Godzilla and Kong on a collision course that will see the two most powerful forces of nature on the planet collide in a spectacular battle for the ages.
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It’s also here that the action-movie hero vibe that Wingard attempted to bring to Kong’s character really comes out in full force — there’s a direct quote to Bruce Willis in Die Hard in here, which the director has acknowledged as an influence on his behavior in the Ape’s behavior in these slugfests — and it’s genuinely a lot of fun to watch this unmoveable object meet up with this unstoppable force.
Amusingly, the ape has been written to be something of everyman here, like Die Hard ’s John McClane, to the point he even gets his own leaping-out-of-the-way-of-an-explosion moment.
There are scenes and images that recall everything from Flash Gordon (1980) to Die Hard (1988).
Between introducing all of these characters—and I see that I have neglected to mention both Apex’s shadowy tech genius (Shun Oguri) and Madison’s worried dad (Kyle Chandler)—it takes about 40 minutes or so for the first confrontation between the titular creatures (who have some ancient rivalry that is often whispered about but never exactly explained), a punch-up at sea that finds Kong busting out a couple of “Die Hard”-style moves before essentially ending in a draw.
Wingard also throws in references to the likes of Die Hard and the Lethal Weapon series, as well as countless Showa-era Godzilla efforts, most specifically those from the 1960s and ’70s.
(I’m told the creature’s movements were modeled on Bruce Willis in “Die Hard,” and there’s even a “Lethal Weapon 2” reference for us elderly folks in the audience.)
Though ostensibly the film was a smash-'em-up monster movie, not unlike 1933's "King Kong," it has also come to be viewed as a response to that trauma.
Then there are nice little nods to the original, 1933 King Kong—as when he angrily flings the metal collar around his neck to the ground or pries Godzilla’s jaws open during another showdown.
In King Kong (1933), it can be argued that the giant ape terrorized New York City because he was kidnapped from his home island, a direct result of western colonialism.
If the original 1933 version of King Kong is still the best, it’s because it tempers the story’s inherent sentimentality with a legitimately nightmarish, borderline-surrealist sense of violence and irrepressible rage.
In 1933, “King Kong” changed filmmaking forever with stop-motion animation, the first original feature film score and iconic imagery atop the Empire State Building.
It’s not Mar-a-Lago, the maskless hordes or hanging chads, but a firm called Apex Corp. that makes giant robots – think “Pacific Rim” (2013).
For those who missed the film’s predecessors (2014’s Godzilla, 2017’s Kong: Skull Island, and 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters), the basic idea is that a couple of dozen giant beasties called “Titans” (presumably because Guillermo del Toro already claimed “Kaiju” for Pacific Rim) have crawled out of the earth’s crust all over the globe and are being monitored by a shadowy government organization called Monarch, and an equally shadowy corporation called Apex Cybernetics.
The visuals are a lot cleaner than King of the Monsters ‘ but ultimately less exciting, while the production aesthetics – variously recalling previous Monsterverse instalments as well as The Lost World, Tron and Pacific Rim – comes off as derivative and incoherent.
And yet, Wingard knows exactly what series of movies he’s working with, making a movie that not only shows honor to the later Toho films in the series, but also sprinkling in his own appreciation for science fiction, with a dash of Jurassic Park , a electric score by Junkie XL that reminded me of Vangelis’ work on Blade Runner , an adventure into the unknown that reminded me of The Goonies, and massive scale monster battles that look better than anything we saw in Pacific Rim .
On the downside, the robotics rip off major elements of Guillermo del Toro’s “Pacific Rim” (2013), only this time Idris Elba is nowhere to be found.
( Pacific Rim , I love you, but I’m talking to you.)
“There is a sense that the less that humans meddle with stuff, the better, is a general theme,” Hall recently told the press — a statement that the Godzilla vs. Kong makes it impossible for anyone to disagree with, even if it is funny to see Eleven from Stranger Things getting chased through CGI hellscapes by scrapped dino concepts from Jurassic Park’s cutting room.
Instead of scoffing at the obvious manipulation, we’re meant to recognize and enjoy it: Kong’s containment in an artificial environment riskily entered by two romantically linked but bland scientists (Alexander Skarsgård and Rebecca Hall) recalls Jurassic Park .
And yet, Wingard knows exactly what series of movies he’s working with, making a movie that not only shows honor to the later Toho films in the series, but also sprinkling in his own appreciation for science fiction, with a dash of Jurassic Park , a electric score by Junkie XL that reminded me of Vangelis’ work on Blade Runner , an adventure into the unknown that reminded me of The Goonies, and massive scale monster battles that look better than anything we saw in Pacific Rim .
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Monarch linguist Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall) watches over Kong, restlessly trapped in a Jurassic Park -like containment area.
In this corner: Godzilla, king of the monsters, once played by a man in a rubber suit, now a slickly computer-animated predator emulating the fluid, menacing movements of the T-Rex from "Jurassic Park."
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Unlike Michael Bay’s “Transformers” behemoths, the plot and editing are coherent, with elements of fun sci-fi fantasy worthy of H.G. Wells combined with some contemporary paranoia.
Taken as a whole, the 2014 reboot, the 2019 Godzilla: King of Monsters , and now Godzilla vs. Kong remind me of nothing so much as Michael Bay’s Transformers movies from the 2000s: big, personality-free blockbusters where all the attention is lavished on the CGI characters, while A-list actors are thrown willy-nilly without regard for whatever human qualities they bring to the project.
That’s a rare subtlety in a movie that makes the much-maligned Michael Bay’s Transformers flicks look comparatively restrained.
Instead, it’s because the latest (and possibly final) installment of Warner Brothers’ “Monsterverse” series bears more than a passing resemblance to Michael Bay’s oft-derided (but financially successful) Transformers franchise.
Without denigrating Henry’s work here, think Anthony Anderson’s Glen Whitmann in Transformers (2007) except not trying to be the comic relief.
Wingard’s film boasts the sort of multicharacter structure that was pioneered by Independence Day and duplicated by Godzilla (1998), Michael Bay’s Transformers movies, and its own franchise predecessors—save, that is, for Gareth Edwards’ superior 2014 Godzilla, which captured a ground-level-POV sense of mythic awe that’s since been replaced by extravagant rock ‘em sock ‘em mayhem (Edwards’ signature sight of figures, and missiles, plummeting thru space, trails of smoke behind them, remains).
From there, the movie proceeds along parallel tracks, as Nathan and Ilene escort Kong to Hollow Earth, while Madison Russell (Millie Bobby Brown, reprising her role from Godzilla: King of the Monsters ) teams up with conspiracy podcaster Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry) to figure out why Godzilla is acting erratically and attacking towns unprovoked.
So begins Godzilla vs. Kong , from director Adam Wingard ( Blair Witch ) , the fourth entry in Legendary Entertainment’s “MonsterVerse” series, which started with the 2014 Godzilla , continued with the 2017 Kong: Skull Island , and then added still more creatures to the mix with the 2019 Godzilla: King of the Monsters .
There is also Brian Tyree Henry as a podcaster who follows the conspiracy theories to help break down the Apex Corporation that runs the Monarch program (thankfully the story is a little more grounded this time around unlike the insane plan of Vera Farmiga’s character in Godzilla: King of the Monsters ).
And Kyle Chandler reprises the role he played in the 2019 Godzilla: King of the Monsters, that of Dr. Mark Russell, a soulful Godzilla stan who nevertheless understands that Godzilla in a bad mood is not a Godzilla you want to be around.
Meanwhile, Madison Russell (Millie Bobby Brown), who was saved by Godzilla in the previous film, Godzilla: King of the Monsters , and her friend Josh Valentine (Julian Dennison) connect with Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry), a wild-eyed conspiracy-theorist podcaster, to investigate strange happenings at Apex Cybernetics and get to the bottom of why Godzilla has turned its back on humanity.
For those who missed the film’s predecessors (2014’s Godzilla, 2017’s Kong: Skull Island, and 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters), the basic idea is that a couple of dozen giant beasties called “Titans” (presumably because Guillermo del Toro already claimed “Kaiju” for Pacific Rim) have crawled out of the earth’s crust all over the globe and are being monitored by a shadowy government organization called Monarch, and an equally shadowy corporation called Apex Cybernetics.
Its primate-centric bent is first apparent in a trick borrowed from “2001: A Space Odyssey”: Kong’s discovery and use of tools.
The imagery will call to mind Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
Just entering the passageway leading to the secret zone becomes a psychedelic wormhole experience out of “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
And then there’s the hollow earth sequence, which seems to draw from both Jules Verne and 2001: A Space Odyssey .
We learn that she’s been studying Kong on his home base of Skull Island for 10 years, recalling the setup for 1968’s awesome Destroy All Monsters , which found Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, and the gang reduced to guinea pigs before breaking loose for a climactic Royal Rumble that may be the best sequence in any Godzilla movie ever.
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There’s even a fun Jaws reference to hammer this point home.
There are scenes and images that recall everything from Flash Gordon (1980) to Die Hard (1988).