Director: Adam Wingard
Starring: Rebecca Hall, Dan Stevens, Brian Tyree Henry & Kaylee Hottle
Runtime: 1 hour 55 mins
Genre: Sci-Fi Action Adventure
IMDb : Click Here
In January of this year, my wife and I watched Monarch: Legacy of Monsters on Apple TV+. Starring father and son, Kurt & Wyatt Russell the series takes you back to the start of Monarch and how the "Monsterverse" in essence all began. It was fantastic, for once putting the humans (who you genuinely cared about) first with monsters being sparingly and effectively used.
Following this series, I introduced my wife to (and re-watched for myself), Godzilla (2014), Kong: Skull Island (2017), Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) and finally Godzilla vs Kong (2021).
In re-visiting the movies (pretty much back to back), on reflection I found I enjoyed the first two entries Godzilla and Skull Island much more this time round. The last two however are what I remembered them to be - mindless destruction porn CGI smash fests. Titans 1 - Humans 0.
So, here we are in 2024 with the next and let's hope final entry in the Monsterverse movie universe. Last year we had the amazing Godzilla Minus One (2023) by Toho Studios which showed Warner Bros. how it's done.
As for this movie, let's break it down..
Story and Plot
Set a few years after Godzilla vs Kong (2021), the humans and titans alike detect a strange signal coming from Hollow Earth. Turns out it's from a tribe that a massive Simian titan called Skar King wants to wreck shop and become well...King, turns out Kong and Godzilla have something to say about that. As for the plot points, well it's fairly basic, huge titan fight - human exposition and humour (Time for a toilet break or popcorn refill) and then back to another huge titan fight, rinse wash repeat. Oh yes, there is also the usual "Tell don't show" where the humans are literally explaining everything all the time and the movie is littered with deux ex machina moments.
Cast
Honestly if you are going to see Godzilla x Kong it's not for the humans, but on the casting front, director Adam Wingard took the decision for this movie to not have two storylines run in tandem like in the previous entry, hence the absence of Millie Bobby Brown and Kyle Chandler's characters. This is a much more Kong-centric movie. Kong really is the movie's MVP. You feel for him much more than anyone else (Titan or not). Godzilla meanwhile (Who likes to sleep in Rome's coliseum - I'm not joking) is relegated to charge his Duracell Bunny batteries and help smack the bad guys.
Rebecca Hall and Kaylee Hottle (Who is actually deaf in real life) resume their respective roles, as does Brian Tyree Henry. Newcomer to the franchise British actor Dan Stevens plays Trapper a plucky dentist? Medic? Pilot? not sure what he actually does but he replaces Alexander Skarsgard in the central male protagonist role. Hall and Hottle supply the heart whilst Stevens and Tyree Henry supply the laughs.
Sound and Spectacle
300 foot titans are smacking the crap out of each other whilst levelling cities, so yeah I'd say there is spectacle. The CGI as well to be fair is really good, Kong is especially impressive. The movie is at it's best when you see the titans close up and get a sense of scale (Very much like in Kong Skull Island) but less so when they are running at each other ready for another smack fest.
Top notch sound however, as you'd expect from this franchise by now.
On-screen Action
If you know what to expect (and why wouldn't you?) then the on-screen action is as per the previous entries. Massive titans wage war and stomp over well known landmarks with humans relegated to the size of ants. As with previous entries, the 3rd act is one long CGI-smorgasbord smash fest so I'd advise taking a tablet beforehand as it get's pretty wild.
It's worth mentioning Monarch's tech, a world away from the Apple TV+ series (I know that's largely set in the 40s-50s) but given this movie is supposed to take place around our time, their tech is something straight out of Star Trek.
Music and Score
Some interesting needle drops and not all of them worked. The score was fine, but nothing too memorable.
300 foot titans smack the crap out of each other whilst levelling cities, it's more of the same. Titans 1 - Humans 0. Grab a bucket of popcorn, pop some pills (The choice is yours) sit back and let it wash over you.
Verdict - It's Fine
Great review Carleton! Would you watch it again?
ReplyDeleteCheers Anand. I would but at home, I don't think my brain can take two times at the cinema!!
ReplyDelete