Reviewed by Victor Rebikoff.
Director: Adam Wingard, Legendary Entertainment & Warner Bros, PG 153 Minutes.
The two greatest monster icons in motion picture history are brought together by ‘Blair Witch’ director Adam Wingard in this entertaining face-to-face monster-mash crossover, which are direct sequels to ‘Godzilla-King of the Monsters’ (2019) and ‘Kong Skull Island’ (2017).
The opening scene has Kong relaxing on Kong Island watched by Jia, (deaf actress and newcomer Kaylee Hottle) a young orphan able to communicate with the ape through sign language.
Kong is later seen hurtling an object towards the sky.
Kong’s action reveals that his movements are being monitored by Dr Ilene Andrews, (Rebecca Hall – ‘The Gift’) Monarch’s anthropologist.
Meanwhile the APEX facility, led by Walter Simmons (Demian Bichiri – ‘Alien-Covenant’), gets involved in sinister activities and finds itself \ attacked by Godzilla.
This is uncovered by APEX employee Bernie (Brian Henry – ‘Hotel Artemis’) along with Madison (Millie Bobby Brown – ‘Enola Holmes’) and Josh (Julian Dennison – ‘Paper Planes’) who want to establish the reason for the attack but are shocked to find a mechanical Godzilla.
At the same time Simmons has sought the services of the scientist/theorist Nathan Lind (Alexander Skarsgard – ‘Legend of Tarzan’) to assist him in locating a new power source for use by his accomplice Ren (Shun Oguri –‘Diner’) against Godzilla.
It soon becomes clear to Nathan (Ilene and Jia) that it will be necessary to guide Kong inside the Hollow Earth to his species’ ancestral throne room, where he later discovers the power source to weaponize his own axe.
By now Godzilla has sensed the energy surging from Hong Kong and attacks the city before the battle of the giant titans becomes the main attraction, this happens in time for both monsters to contend with a Mechagodzilla being manipulated by Ren.
Although there is a winner from the encounter between Godzilla and Kong the concluding scenes show that in the end both are seen as winners.
To his credit Wingard has skillfully merged the earlier Godzilla and Kong movies into an epic blockbuster filled with many thrilling action scenes, including some emotion and humour, and ensured that his spectacular CGI monsters become its major stars.
To ensure there are credible humans portraying their characters Wingard has also assembled a convincing cast, most notably Skarsgard, Hall and Hottle, all of whom contribute to making ‘Godzilla VS Kong’ an enjoyable viewing experience.
Vic’s Verdict: 3 ½ Stars
