Godzilla vs. Kong Movie Review & Comments

It doesn't have to be an Oscar contender, but there's a middle ground between that and a 2 hour video game like this. It's sad but it seems like people have forgotten that you can make a movie like this that's actually GOOD. Jurassic Park, Close Encounters, Minority Report - pick any early era Spielberg film to see how you can have both spectacle and a human element. If you don't care about the characters, then all you have is a cartoon.

I'm not sure they are fair comparisons, as there are very few movies which have attempted to make the monsters the characters.

It's hardly like you cared about any of the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, which was essentially just updating Jaws-by-way-of-Crichton. Of course you had to care about the humans in plight.

Transformers movies are a more apt comparison, where - beyond the first - the only characters you're likely to care about are Optimus and Bee, certainly none of the humans. Bumblebee did a better job, but it's still essentially just the one character, and the relationship there was not wholly unlike the Kong/girl thing they had going here.

So, sure, talk about combining spectacle and the human element, but don't forget that the 'humanity' you see in this movie comes from a rough-around-the-edges underdog brawler called Kong...
 
I’m a sucker for the big G and had a day off so jumped into this with caution given how bad KOM was, but I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, the humans didn’t make much of an impression but Rebecca Hall can make anything watchable and the monster carnage was fantastic. Looked and sounding incredible in 4K and Atmos too.
Kyle Chandler should get an Oscar for saying the line “Somethings wrong. Godzilla’s hurting people and we don’t know why” with a straight face.
Can I ask if you watched it on Amazon Prime at all? I'm trying to figure out whether it has Atmos to stream it from there?
 
Can I ask if you watched it on Amazon Prime at all? I'm trying to figure out whether it has Atmos to stream it from there?
Amazon doesn’t, Apple does
 
It totally lacked the heart of Peter Jackson's King Kong (which I still think could be regarded as a classic of they cut out about 30 minutes of the Skull Island scenes). This was more akin to The Core. I found it hard to maintain interest in the plight of the human characters, in fact I couldn't care less about them unlike the characters in the 2005 movie. Wouldn't be bothered to watch it again.
 
Well I really enjoyed this one, best of the series. I’m pleased they gave up on any pretence of seriousness and went bonkers with the plot. This was the one that felt most like the Japanese Godzilla movies, especially the later 90s films. It didn’t bother me that the human characters were shallow, the action hero was Kong, and they did a great job of giving him a personality and some emotion, but it didn’t need much. I paid my money to see giant monsters smash s%%t up and that’s what I got. The pacing was good, it wasn’t 100% messy action like Bayformers movie and they actually showed the monsters clearly without hiding them in smoke like the last one.

I don’t know some people on here were expecting, but I wanted King Kong, not King Lear. It’s a not a classic that I will revisit for years to come but I had a fun couple of hours.
 
I'm not sure they are fair comparisons, as there are very few movies which have attempted to make the monsters the characters.

It's hardly like you cared about any of the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, which was essentially just updating Jaws-by-way-of-Crichton. Of course you had to care about the humans in plight.

Transformers movies are a more apt comparison, where - beyond the first - the only characters you're likely to care about are Optimus and Bee, certainly none of the humans. Bumblebee did a better job, but it's still essentially just the one character, and the relationship there was not wholly unlike the Kong/girl thing they had going here.

So, sure, talk about combining spectacle and the human element, but don't forget that the 'humanity' you see in this movie comes from a rough-around-the-edges underdog brawler called Kong...

It's a very fair comparison: they're all movies, and some were good, one was awful. More important, using a Transformers movie as a comparison makes my point for me.
 
Godzilla has short arms and is very chunky. I see it as a fairer fight.
One has a deadly weapon, the other doesn’t. Kong shouldn’t be even able to get close ?

Then again I could never get Batman vs Superman. One can survive in outer space, whilst the other has the power of a rubber suit ?

If only I were 12 again (or Japanese), I wouldn’t question any of it....

Having said this, I’ll still watch it at some point 😁
 
I don’t know some people on here were expecting, but I wanted King Kong, not King Lear. It’s a not a classic that I will revisit for years to come but I had a fun couple of hours.
This is the problem: all some people seem to want is noise and destruction. That's fine, but that's not a movie, that's a video game. 20 minutes of noise isn't a movie.
 
I quite enjoyed the film not stunning by any means but exactly what I expected even in terms of the intra keijo battles a solid six for me
 
Watched it again this morning to see if my opinion had been affected by having a crap day at work on Thursday.

Maybe it did. It’s still absolute nonsensical guff, the villain is so hammy it’s ridiculous, his daughter was a tw@t, and I didn’t care a single bit for any of the main humans aside from the sign language girl. I also really dislike these films where most of a city gets destroyed, but the protagonists all live happily ever after with no mention of the tens of thousands of people that just got killed (one of the very few things BvS does well is address that and its consequences). And some of the CGI rivalled Zach Snyder’s Justice League for it’s awfulness.

But.

As a bit of nonsense escapism, I warmed to it on second viewing. It’s big fight scenes with some other nonsense attached to it. It’s gorgeous at times too, especially if you can watch it in DV, the neon Hong Kong scenes in particular (side note, @Casimir Harlow - I think you called it Tokyo in an earlier post), and the bass is superb for a stream.

Set brain to off and don’t think about what you’re watching and you should be fine.

It’s never an 8/10 though - this site gave Avengers Endgame an 8 and that’s a far, far superior film.
 
One has a deadly weapon, the other doesn’t. Kong shouldn’t be even able to get close ?

Then again I could never get Batman vs Superman. One can survive in outer space, whilst the other has the power of a rubber suit ?

If only I were 12 again (or Japanese), I wouldn’t question any of it....

Having said this, I’ll still watch it at some point 😁
Yeah I never did get the whole Batman being any kind of contest for Superman.

Godzilla is very slow when firing his weapon, annoyingly so, you might even find yourself shouting at the screen!
It’s worth a watch just for the fight debate it causes.
 
Its not about it being Oscar worthy, people seem to enjoy the monsters fighting which is like 20 minutes of the film. The rest of it is filled with characters you simply don't care about:

Bobby Brown - Podcast conspiracy theorist - boring
Sarskgard - Really a scientist turned fighter pilot when all I really wanted was to see him vamp up :laugh:Little child - Little child has a special relationship with Kong? Could have just given that to any of the other main characters why do they need this character that does nothing else.
The Villain - Holy molly could he have have been any less shallow and anymore of a caricature?

I am not asking for a Oscar contender but if they are going to insist on wrapping a human story around it at least make it interesting.
 
If only I were 12 again (or Japanese), I wouldn’t question any of it....
Really weird statement which equates being Japanese with having the development of a 12 year old.
this site gave Avengers Endgame an 8 and that’s a far, far superior film.
"This site" but a different reviewer. Luckily there isn't an AVF line to tow and we're each allowed our own views.:D
Having said that, I'd probably give Endgame an 8 too...but it would be a different kind of 8!
That's fine, but that's not a movie, that's a video game.
If you're only getting 20 minutes out of a videogame then you're probably not getting your money's worth.
Also, videogames have no story? The Last of Us, Red Dead Redemption, What Remains of Edith Finch, and a whole army of others not just from the last 5 years would like a word with you...
 
@Tom Davies

An 8 that’s a different 8?

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Really weird statement which equates being Japanese with having the development of a 12 year old.

Yeah, should have said ‘or Japanese”.

Children don’t always question the science in a story and Godzilla is rather popular in Japan.

I always used to moan at my Dad for spoiling films by explaining that stuff simply couldn’t happen in reality because of this and that. I used to tell him constantly that he had lost the power of imagination in his old age and now it’s my turn 😁

Nothing weird or sinister intended, so I hope that clears things up a bit 👍
 
This is the problem: all some people seem to want is noise and destruction. That's fine, but that's not a movie, that's a video game. 20 minutes of noise isn't a movie.
But there is a story in this. It’s a simple action movie plot, but it’s there. Kong is the protagonist of this movie, the humans are all side characters that help or hinder Kong’s story.

Godzilla is attacking cities and Kong is the only ape than can possibly fight back.

He is pulled out of monster jail to help fight Godzilla.

He goes on a journey to try to get help, but is nearly defeated along the way.

With help from his friends he finds his home and a powerful weapon to fight back.

He fights Godzilla, but surprise! Godzilla is not the real enemy.

Together they fight Mechagodzilla, the reincarnation of their mutual enemy, Gidorah.

They save the day and Kong gets to go home.

That’s a perfectly serviceable action adventure plot, not deep or clever, but enough to frame the action scenes. In fact I would argue Kong gets more of an arc and character development than many human action heroes.
 
Its not about it being Oscar worthy, people seem to enjoy the monsters fighting which is like 20 minutes of the film. The rest of it is filled with characters you simply don't care about:

Bobby Brown - Podcast conspiracy theorist - boring
Sarskgard - Really a scientist turned fighter pilot when all I really wanted was to see him vamp up :laugh:Little child - Little child has a special relationship with Kong? Could have just given that to any of the other main characters why do they need this character that does nothing else.
The Villain - Holy molly could he have have been any less shallow and anymore of a caricature?

I am not asking for a Oscar contender but if they are going to insist on wrapping a human story around it at least make it interesting.

What we're you actually genuinely expecting?

This is like the Ronseal of monster destruction films. The action is solid and I would say pretty visceral at times, it's not too silly or too cartoon like.
I still wouldn't paint my fence with it though.
 
Had a rewatch as well but all I ended up doing was skipping the human element to get to the monster fights. I’m not totally sure that’s what I’m meant to do but it’s hard when essentially they just get in the way. It’s just a terribly scripted movie and that really shows in the final draft. It’s like a dot to dot movie, doesn’t matter how you get there, just draw the line.
Still struggling to award anymore than a 5/10 and all 5 are for the lizard v monkey stuff.
 
A movie that had more then 20 minutes of good stuff.

Anyone could say that about any film.
It's clear you expected more, I just wonder what sort of film you were hoping for?

What did you think to KOM?
 
I think these "what else where you expecting?" discussions can get threads "stuck in a loop" so to speak, all I'll say on the matter is I think that the best of the blockbuster bunch in times gone by had decent human characterization to go along with the special FX, and watching men treated as comedy sidekicks or idiots (the guys Millie Bobby Brown was hanging with for example) is not the best way to go about advancing the plot in any meaningful way, nor is lazy screenwriting (probably studio exec approved). I think the best blockbusters did something new and exciting, had decent male and female characters, and were extremely well written. I'm thinking of Raiders of the Lost Ark, I'm thinking of Aliens, I'm thinking of Jurassic Park. I'm afraid that, for me, this movie didn't come close and the writing is the main culprit. In fairness very few movies get close to those classics but some might just make it into the ballpark, if they don't go the lazy route.
 
I think these "what else where you expecting?" discussions can get threads "stuck in a loop" so to speak, all I'll say on the matter is I think that the best of the blockbuster bunch in times gone by had decent human characterization to go along with the special FX, and watching men treated as comedy sidekicks or idiots (the guys Millie Bobby Brown was hanging with for example) is not the best way to go about advancing the plot in any meaningful way, nor is lazy screenwriting (probably studio exec approved). I think the best blockbusters did something new and exciting, had decent male and female characters, and were extremely well written. I'm thinking of Raiders of the Lost Ark, I'm thinking of Aliens, I'm thinking of Jurassic Park. I'm afraid that, for me, this movie didn't come close and the writing is the main culprit. In fairness very few movies get close to those classics but some might just make it into the ballpark, if they don't go the lazy route.

Very well written post
 

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