The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Giants go at in ‘Godzilla vs. Kong,’ a big blast of guilty pleasure
Giants go at in ‘Godzilla vs. Kong,’ a big, booming blast of guilty pleasure from the MonsterVerse
With apologies to the high-profile Christmas Day release “Wonder Woman 1984,” “Godzilla vs. Kong” feels like the first Warner Bros. Pictures theatrical offering too BIG for simultaneous debut on streaming service HBO Max. ¶ With its massive namesake stars, dazzling digital sequences and absolutely booming sound effects, the latest entry in Warner’s MonsterVerse will push the limits of even a decent home-theater setup. ¶ Plus, in theaters, you get the option of a 3-D presentation. Given some of the monster clashes, we’d guess it may actually be worth paying the extra few bucks for the added visual depth. ¶ Of course, we’re not pushing anyone to go to theaters, at least not yet. You have to make your own choices when it comes to health and safety, and it’s certainly nice to have the HBO Max/watch-fromhome option in 2021. ¶ And, hey, it’s not as if your life will be significantly enriched by seeing “Godzilla vs. Kong.” Like its predecessors — starting with 2014’s “Godzilla” and running through 2019’s “Godzilla: King of Monsters” — this affair likely won’t prove to be all that memorable, as YUGE as it is at times.
That said, its tone is closest to that of the series’ best entry, 2017’s adventure-driven “Kong: Skull Island,” which helps to make it a fairly fun affair.
However, it also borrows a problem from “Skull Island”: too many characters.
First, meet Rebecca Hall’s Dr. Ilene Andrews, an anthropological linguist with Monarch, the government’s crypto-zoological agency dedicated to studying Titans such as Godzilla and Kong. She is on Skull Island to monitor and work with Kong, for whom she cares deeply.
“If he leaves, Godzilla will kill him,” she says to a colleague who insists the great ape can’t survive there forever. “Offsite would be a death sentence.”
(She is also responsible for reminding the audience that Kong is a king, saying later, “Kong bows for no one.”)
Kong, however, doesn’t much communicate with Ilene, but he does have a special bond with Jia (Kaylee Hottle), a young orphaned deaf girl from the island. Her interactions with Kong are kinda cute, such as when they touch vastly different-sized fingers.
Ilene does soon relent, agreeing to let Kong leave the island — with Jia and her along for the ride — at the behest of an old colleague, former Monarch Chief Geologist and Subterranean Cartographer Dr. Nathan Lind (Alexander Skarsgård).
The hollow-earth truther — like others, Nathan believes (correctly) the Titans come from an ecosystem in the center of the planet — himself has been recruited by Walter Simmons (Demián Bichir), CEO of technological advanced and powerful Apex Industries. Walter believes there to be a huge energy source inside the planet that could be harnessed and used to combat the Titans.
And returning from “King of Monsters” are Kyle Chandler’s Mark Russell, Monarch deputy director of special projects, and his teen daughter, Madison (Millie Bobby Brown). Unlike her dad, Madison believes Godzilla suddenly attacking a city doesn’t mean he’s turned on humanity, especially because his wrath seems focused toward a large Apex facility.
She and her not-soskilled, comic-relief friend Josh Valentine (Julian Dennison of “Hunt for the Wilderpeople”) chase down a podcaster, Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry), who, after spending years undercover working a job at Apex, also believes the giant lizard-like creature has reason to be angry with Apex.
We don’t have to wait long before we get Godzilla versus Kong, as Ilene is proved right — Godzilla makes a beeline for the primate as he’s being taken by sea to an entry point inside the earth. They wail on each other in the water, with Godzilla getting the better of the now-weakened Kong, whose journey to a possible onetime home continues.
Of course, we suspect these royals among the Titans not only will fight again but eventually will find a common enemy to fight and learn to be pals.
Working from a screenplay written by Eric Pearson and Max Borenstein — based on a story by Terry Rossio, Michael Dougherty and Zach Shields — director Adam Wingard plays it safe but satisfying.
You won’t see anything in “Godzilla vs. Kong” you haven’t seen a hundred times before — powerful creatures slamming each other into buildings and the like — but Wingard doesn’t take all this overly seriously or let it become campy. This may be guiltypleasure entertainment, but you don’t have to feel THAT guilty about it.
As for the writing, it’s merely fine — but the gravity inversion that happens in hollow earth is a neat idea, we must admit.
Again, the stars of this movie obviously are its two computer-controlled namesake players, and none of the humans gets to shine all that brightly.
That said, it’s enjoyable to spend time with Hall (“Professor Marston and the Wonder Women,” “Tales From the Loop”), Skarsgård (“The Legend of Tarzan,” “Big Little Lies”), Henry (“Atlanta,” “If Beale Street Could Talk”), Brown (“Stranger Things”) and, last but not least, Hottle, who is deaf in real life. In making her feature-film debut, she brings to life the most impactful of the homo sapien characters.
Less impactful are the normally terrific Bichir (“The Land”) and two actors who play his allies, Shun Oguri (“Voice of Sin”) and Eiza Gonzalez (“I Care a Lot”). All three of their characters feel like afterthoughts, as does the returning one played by Chandler (“Friday Night Lights,” “The Midnight Sky”).
The impact of “Godzilla vs. Kong” comes from the sights and sounds, which are big-league.
And when they’re done, that’s it; there is no postcredits scene teasing a next entry in the MonsterVerse, so fans wanting more had better try to help make this one a hit.