REEL TALK

GODZILLA VS. KONG

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The war between titans

REVIEWED BY Ashwini Vethakan

It’s been a few years since we were blessed with a good monster flick and that’s exactly what Godzilla vs. Kong is – a battle of teeth and brawn.

Godzilla and King Kong are no strangers to the silver screen. Although their respective stories have been told over the years in countless remakes, this is a momentous occasion in cinematic history as we have Planet Earth’s two titans battling it out on the same screen. 

The movie follows its predecessors – Godzilla (2014), Kong: Skull Island (2017) and Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) – while also feeding us the same ‘Kaiju’ storyline with some very cool animation and art direction, à la Steven Spielberg and James Cameron.

You can rest assured that the lizard and ape totally live up to the building annihilating, crowd screaming promise of its title. And you’ll also be glad to know that it gives us a better understanding of their respective movies.

The story picks up with Godzilla being precisely what its name means – a ‘god’ (mind you, his name does not mean ‘god’ but is interestingly a portmanteau of the words ‘gorilla’ and ‘whale’ in Japanese).

Basically Godzilla is the apex leader of all apex predators – the world’s moved on since the Godzilla movie in 2019 and the monsters pretty much leave people alone. But when our scaly friend randomly attacks a facility run by a shady science corporation, humans question what’s going on.

Meanwhile, Kong (who was relocated to Earth, following the movie Kong: Skull Island) is being shipped to a place big enough for it to live in: the Hollow Earth, an entirely fictitious new ecosystem. And Kong must make it there before its presence at sea attracts the attention of that certain other alpha creature who may wish to take it down.

And there starts the battle with the Big G sniffing out Kong when it’s in the water. If you haven’t watched the movie, here’s a fair warning: there are a few spoilers on the way.

The first round of the battle goes to Godzilla while the second win is Kong’s. And there are moments as the two wrestle when you expect one of them to suddenly shout ‘save Martha.’

Do you see where we’re going with this?

The entire movie reminds me of the fights featured in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and to be honest, that was quite disappointing.

But what the film lacks in terms of storytelling it makes up for with its award-winning cast, whose seamless narration is what really keeps the movie going.

With stars such as Alexander Skarsgård and Millie Bobby Brown, the film’s narrative is admirably brought in, even though there are moments you feel its plots become jumbled or make no sense – like the time Kong picks up an axe and seats himself on a throne… it’s all too similar to Conan the Barbarian.

The final battle has the two monsters uniting for the greater good as they join forces to fight off a robotic version of Godzilla who harnesses the powers of the dead evil creature from Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

Tears will be shed, and you’ll find yourself mentally pumping your fist in the air as you cheer on the ‘good’ bad guys who once again save the day.

There’s also a cliff-hanging end, which makes you believe there could be another titan movie to look forward to in the near future.