Godzilla vs. Kong — 3.0 Gavels 75% Rotten Tomatoes

Combine the animosity of the Reds vs. Cardinals with the film Journey to the Center of the Earth and you get Godzilla vs. Kong. With apologies to Shakespeare, this film is full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Granted, the first battle between Godzilla vs. Kong on an aircraft carrier is pretty cool, but after that the fights are just too repetitive. It’s the story here that falls flat. The producers waste no money on fine actors, then give them little to do but stand around awestruck as they watch the big guys fight. The best the writers can do is give us yet another evil corporation which creates Mechagodzilla. It’s enough to give the viewer atomic breath. Wait, Godzilla already has that! Nevermind.

Can Godzilla and Kong co-exist? After all, “there can’t be two alpha titans” and Kong “bows to no one.” When last we left our titan friends, Kong: Skull Island and Godzilla: King of the Monsters, both helped humans survive catastrophic events. Still, long past events on Hollow Earth give notice that these two will seek out each other in a fight to the death, or at least capitulation. Clearly, we can’t kill off a franchise. And man, being man, must have the power source that comes from Hollow Earth. All we need to do is to defeat the reverse-gravitational effect and the ultimate power is ours. Of course, greed corrupts and nothing goes as planned, including the plot. Maybe the whole thing works better in IMAX 3-D. In any case, I give Godzilla vs Kong 3.0 Gavels and it receives a 75% Rotten Tomatoes rating with a 6.6/10 IMDb score.

Plot

After a peaceful three years, something antagonizes Godzilla. After attacking Apex Cybernetics in Pensacola Florida, Godzilla senses Kong and the battle at sea is on. Convinced that the only way to protect Earth is to obtain the power source from Hollow Earth, Dr. Nathan Lind convinces Dr. Ilene Andrews to use her connection with Kong to find it. Both soon learn that a young, deaf orphan, Jia, can communicate with Kong. The journey to, and from, Hollow Earth will be littered with bodies.

Actors

The name actors include Alexander Skarsgard (Long Shot), Rebecca Hall (Holmes and Watson), Millie Bobby Brown (Enola Holmes), Kyle Chandler (The Midnight Sky), and Demian Bichir (also The Midnight Sky). Forget about them. The only actor worth watching is Kaylee Hottle as Jia. She comes from an all-deaf family spanning four generations on her father’s side. In her first major movie role, Kaylee captivates with her expressions and ability to understand Kong. More Kaylee, less Godzilla vs. Kong!

Final Thoughts

On the plus side, it was nice to see some city besides New York destroyed. This time it is Hong Kong, naturally. Made at a cost upwards of $200 million, Variety estimates $330 million to break even. So far, it’s made $285 million. Will MonsterVerse continue? My vote is to give it a rest!

“It’s hard to believe that human minds conceived the story line of Godzilla vs. Kong — not because it’s so intricate, elegant or spiritually elevated, but because it’s so incoherent and idiotic.” Wall Street Journal

“We want colorful carnage. We want mindless destruction. We want one giant thing hitting another giant thing, and maybe one of those things could also be holding a giant glowing radioactive axe, maybe? Sure! Give the people Godzilla vs. Kong.” Globe and Mail

Despite the noise, I had trouble staying awake. Hope you have better luck.