Godzilla vs. Kong, released on March 31, is a science fiction and action film directed by Adam Wingard that can be streamed on HBO Max. This movie has dominated the box office with it’s two iconic monster characters: Godzilla and King Kong.
The movie owes some of its popularity to its star-studded cast. Millie Bobby Brown, who plays one of the main characters, Madison Russell, is a famous teen actor best known for her role as Eleven in the Netflix original series Stranger Things. She is joined by child actor Kaylee Hottle, who plays Jia, an orphaned young girl who has a powerful bond with King Kong. Hottle is able to portray a deaf character using just her facial expressions, a testament to her acting abilities. Beyond the actors, King Kong and Godzilla themselves also did not disappoint.
Despite the high Computer Graphics Imaging (CGI) budget for the movie, it was worth it and did not come off as overwhelming as the lifelike imaging of the monsters battling it out was spectacular and enhanced the experience of colossal beings fighting for fans. In addition, the movie employed CGI to great use when King Kong first speaks and interacts with Jia. It is an especially deep scene that shows the connection King Kong and Jia have. This humane and deeper complexity to the movie’s leading character contributes to a larger theme that beings like Kong are more than just monsters..
The amazing VFX effects also added to the action packed experience of the film. From explosions to King Kong and Godzilla’s howls, it really made it feel as if audience members were there alongside the characters.
The movie starts off with King Kong and his friends and protectors trying to get to Kong’s real home. On this journey, they find themselves along the same path as the giant dinosaur-like creature, Godzilla. Unsurprisingly, the two crossing paths results in an epic battle.
Even though the film is performing well at the box office, the plot has not been immune to criticism, with some saying it felt empty. Junior Dionisios Diamantis said that he did not like the film as much because he thought the film was more boring than entertaining and the highly anticipated fight scene between Godzilla and Kong was very short lived. Overall, Dionisios rated it a 3 out of 10. Sophomore Sean Zhou agreed with Diamantis, and said, “The writers took every single cliche they could find and stuffed it into this movie.” He also felt the film felt like a money grab. Sean rated the film a 2 out of 10.
King Kong vs. Godzilla was definitely a film made to build and improve on its previous films, but was not enough for some action fans. Even though the film did not please many with it’s plot, the film deserves credit for its visuals, arguably the most emphasized part of the movie.
