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Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
I was never planning to see this hit film nor publish a review on it. However, after being invited by my kid brother to our local movie theater to see it, I may have realized its impact. I will not say anything too revealing about this story. Thus, spoilers will be kept at the lowest minimum in this article.
Plot Summary
Ever since 2014, Legendary Pictures have given us Godzilla, which was followed by Kong: Skull Island (2017) and Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019). This spring, Godzilla vs. Kong continues this narrative of the Lizard and the Monkey. As the title suggests, both kaiju battle one another to establish their dominance over planet Earth. However, the film’s human characters dig deeper and find something and some things larger than life itself.
Millie Bobby Brown returns to her main role of Madison Russell from King of the Monsters. Kyle Chandler makes an appearance in this film as her father, Dr. Mark Russell, albeit now in a smaller role.
Joining Brown and Chandler is a diverse group of newcomers. Alexander Skarsgård plays Dr. Nathan Lind — a geologist and cartographer; while Rebecca Hall plays Dr. Ilene Andrews — an anthropological linguist. Kaylee Hottle portrays Jia, a deaf child from Skull Island.
Brian Tyree Henry plays Bernie Hayes, a conspiracy theorist looking into the mysterious Godzilla phenomenon. Meanwhile, Julian Dennison plays Josh Valentine, a friend of Brown’s character who joins on their journey.
Discussion
This film is not director Adam Wingard‘s first rodeo with the horror genre. He has gone a long way since You’re Next (2011), The Guest (2014), and Blair Witch (2016), and I’m sure he’s only gotten started. Godzilla vs. Kong is outstanding from its resonating musical scoring to its sight-for-sore-eyes cinematography. We have Tom Holkenborg (a.k.a. Junkie XL) and Ben Seresin, respectively, to express our gratitude to. Aside from its score, the film also had an awesome soundtrack of oldie songs.
I take it that Wingard, screenwriters Eric Pearson and Max Borenstein, and story writers Terry Rossio, Michael Dougherty, and Zach Shields did sufficient research for the narrative. The film does lean toward the development of one monster as we see in the screentime it’s given. The other character appears a good amount too, but only when the plot permits it. For comparison purposes, I would say the film is Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice but with the use of kaiju included. Additionally, the transitions between one scene to the next all the way to the end could have been written better. In fact, there were too many location chyrons within the first 20 minutes that I was about to lose focus on what was going on. Indeed, the film was going so many places at once — literally and figuratively.
Themes
In the good first half of the film, I thought the research protagonists had some white savior complex in the ways they treated Kong and Jia. As the story progressed, I wasn’t too sure about that. However, as the film neared its climax, I would have to award this title of “white savior” to one of the central antagonists, a greedy tech organization owner named Walter Simmons, played by Demián Bichir. Through this character, I could sense a theme of capitalism and colonization in which APEX, Simmons’s organization — taking over the MonsterVerse’s Monarch — , was on its way toward usurping Earth with its technology. The film’s antagonists had a plan of their own, opposite the protagonists’, in which they would steal resources from the kaijus‘ place of origin for their own personal gain.
Complementing such themes of capitalism and colonization are the concepts of transhumanism and posthumanism, something I am currently studying in my Master’s program. (The purpose of transhumanism is to perfect humanity’s way of living with technology as enhancements. Posthumanism — specifically critical posthumanism — aims to make the world a better domain for co-existence via transhumanism.) With advanced technology such as what APEX has created, I would assume that the powers-that-be have stronger intentions and motives. As usual, in films like this, that isn’t exactly the case.
The Earth in which Godzilla vs. Kong takes place — and of course, our own Earth as well — has yet a long way to go before reaching posthuman status. From the moment APEX is first introduced in the film, the promise for posthumanism has been made. The way the film ends suggests that steps are at least being taken, and so I would think there is hope. Bichir’s character poses a trouble for all the themes and concepts presented in this section. Although, that is only just the tip of the iceberg…
In Regards to the Themes and Concepts
There is one scene in which a barrage of bombs is dropped into the ocean as part of an attack on one of the kaiju. To anyone not affected by hydrogen, nuclear, etc. bombs (indirectly or directly) throughout history, you can easily brush this off. Although, for those who can relate to these events, this is a reckless act and decision to make. Perhaps it’s the writing. Maybe it’s just the fact that no one realizes the influence this would have on-screen. This type of thing does happen, as bombing the waters affects the sealife and, in turn, may prove dangerous to other living organisms on the planet.
Performances — From the Humans
For a film just several minutes under two hours, more if excluding end credits, I wanted more development in the human characters. I was most convinced by Hall’s and Brown’s characters, Ilene Andrews and Madison Russell. As the youngest character in the film, Hottle’s Jia made me feel sympathetic, specifically when she tries to connect with Kong.
Brown does well in the scenes she shares with Henry and Dennison. Although, I would have liked to see Dennison serve a more fulfilling role than what we were given. Seeing him in Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016) and Deadpool 2 (2018) convinced me that he’s got quite an acting career ahead of him. With his performance in this current film, I can tell he is headed on the right path. This trio’s journey seems shorter than the trio in the previous paragraph, and I feel like they should have gone through a bit more to achieve their goal.
The Secondary Characters
Eiza González and Shun Oguri were interesting as the respective “henchmen,” Maia and Ren, to say the least. I would love to see more screentime from them (as well as the other characters mentioned above) to get a feel for the depth of the humans’ sides of the story. González was first introduced to me when she appeared in From Dusk till Dawn: The Series from 2014 to 2016. Later, I watched as she branched out into film with Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver (2017) and Robert Rodriguez’s Alita: Battle Angel (2019). Oguri’s Ren does show he’s more relatable as a human, rather than seeing him as a “villain.” He just wants to make the world a better place for others.
With an actor of her caliber — and the same goes for Brian Tyree Henry — , I would have expected perfection. Of course, with a runtime of 1 hour and 53 minutes, you can only get as good a show as the screentime allows.
Aside from Chandler, there are other roles that are truncated from the film. Some instances would point to Lance Reddick’s, Zhang Ziyi’s, and Jessica Henwick’s. I’m still disappointed that I couldn’t see more of them, if they were even present in the movie.
The Kaiju
Lastly, I loved Kong’s side of the story better than Godzilla’s, especially since we’ve only seen him in Kong: Skull Island. Because Godzilla was developed more in previous MonsterVerse installments, I was given the impression that it was the Superman of the movie. My reason is that this fictional Earth inhabited by the kaiju is more aware of Godzilla’s existence and its impact on humans. That is, what it can do in damages, how it may save the people, etc.
Final Thoughts
When Godzilla: King of the Monsters released, it didn’t do so well critically and financially. I do hope that Godzilla vs. Kong gets the proper attention it deserves because I loved what it had to offer. Of course, I might be one of the select few who may feel this way. For what it’s worth, the film provides the audience with beautiful scenery in the events that play out. It gave me a lot to think about in terms of its themes and concepts. It properly dives into science fiction by calling upon existing theories such as Hollow Earth.
In their fight scenes together, Godzilla and Kong prove themselves to be formidable adversaries for each other. As a new addition to the cinematic “versus” stories (Freddy vs. Jason, Alien vs. Predator, Captain America: Civil War, BvS, etc.) out so far, Wingard’s film ranks somewhere at the top. The film does have its flaws here and there, but it also possesses some redeeming qualities. If you are a big fan of the kaiju character(s) and the lore behind them, I would say it’s to be enjoyed as the next big Warner Brothers blockbuster epic after Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
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Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
