Review of Godzilla vs. Kong

By Dave B.

When Godzilla goes on a seemingly unprovoked rampage in Florida, Kong and his human allies trek to his ancestral home in an attempt to uncover a power source that will stop the King of the Monsters. But some of the people involved in this mission have another agenda and they’ll put the world at risk to accomplish their aims. 

As a fan of science-fiction and fantasy, I often have to suspend belief and just accept certain elements of imaginary worlds. And that’s ok. It can help one to fully embrace a story and enhance a welcome sense of escapism. But Godzilla vs. Kong doesn’t just ask viewers to suspend belief. It requires them to turn off their brains, and that’s rarely a good thing. Frankly, the Godzilla vs. Kong plot doesn’t make sense, the story is poor, and the character development is just about nil. On top of that, there are so many inconsistencies that it boggles the mind. How did this guy learn to expertly pilot an experimental aircraft in like three seconds? How did this company build an underground maglev system under the entire world, but not spend a dime on basic security? How did this guy who was seemingly in Florida a few hours ago meet up with his daughter in Hong Kong in the blink of an eye? I’ll probably never get answers to these questions, so it’s likely for the best that the movie wasn’t interesting enough for me to get too worked up about them. 

That’s not to say that Godzilla vs. Kong had nothing going for it. The movie is relatively family-friendly, which is a plus for those with families who may want a little break from fare directed at the youngest of children. The monster fights were all pretty entertaining and the CGI is definitely good. But I can’t help but think that, considering over $150 million was spent making this movie, it may have been wise to have spent more than a few cents to develop a decent story that is at least moderately compelling and internally consistent. Brian Tyree Henry as Bernie Hayes is a bright spot as far as the performances go, but it’s abundantly clear that the Hayes character (a paranoid conspiracy-obsessed podcaster) is the only character that received even a bare minimum of thought and effort from the writers, so it’s hard to blame the cast for lackluster results in that area.

I’m not going to sugarcoat it. Overall, Godzilla vs. Kong is bad. It’s saving grace is that most people who would take the time to watch it likely have fairly reasonable expectations about it. So long as the action is good, most viewers will probably be content. But for me, that’s not enough, so I am not recommending this movie. Unless you’re completely emotionally invested in the Warner Bros. multiverse, watching this movie is going to feel like a waste of your time. 

Service: HBOMax
Runtime: 113 Minutes
Rating: 4.5/10