Barrett Brief Movie Review – Godzilla Vs Kong: Card Subject To Change

Barrett Brief Movie Review – Godzilla Vs Kong: Card Subject To Change

Summary: The epic next chapter in the cinematic Monsterverse pits two of the greatest icons in motion picture history against one another – the fearsome Godzilla and the mighty Kong – with humanity caught in the balance.

Genre: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller

The monster movie is a lost genre. Much like the western, it is known more for nostalgia, the kind of film you watch in the drive in. But two names have lived on within popular culture- Godzilla and King Kong, which Warner Bros has the film rights to. Now it is no secret that Warner Bros has about as much patiences to build cinematic universes as young child waiting to open his presents on Christmas morning (see the DCEU). Starting with Godzilla 2014, all the subsequent films have been pointing to this moment. That being said, for all the rush to get these two into battle, Godzilla Vs Kong suddenly wants you to sit back and take a journey with a bunch of boring, one note characters that drag down what should be a fun, knock down romp between the two titans of the screen.

A Noble Kong

The highlight of the film is Kong. He is the protagonist and the character that we are suppose to root for. From the opening frame, we are right by the King as he makes his way through the plot. The CGI work on Kong is impressive, with facial expressions and behaviors that are very believable. The film picks up the pace when he is on screen. The relationship with Kong and Jia (Kaylee Hottle) is the heart of the film. While others may criticize it, I found it a nice homage to the relationship that Kong has had with the fairer sex in past interpretations.

Godless Zilla

For having his name on the marquee, I found myself thinking that Godzilla was a secondary character in his own movie. In both 2014 and 2019 Godzilla: King of the Monsters we actually had a character in titan. Now, he is nothing more than a plot device, simply showing up when things need to go boom. Having seen all the films in the monsterverse, this is a step back for the legend. We could have easily dropped one of the pointless, boring human subplots to give the big guy some more time on screen, because he barely feels like a presence, disappearing for long stretches of time.

The Rest of the Cast

If I haven’t said it yet, let me say it again: Boring. Outside of Jia, every other character was useless. The human cast was a point of contention in previous monsterverse movies, but compared to this group they might as well be the cast of Oceans 11. We spend way too much time with them and all they do is make you check your watch until the next Kong comes back on the screen.

Plot & Pacing

This should be a simple plot. Find a reason, ANY reason to get Kong and Godzilla in the same place and ring the bell. Instead we have to give a payoff to all the “groundwork” put down in previous films about hollow earth and other useless callbacks. The film’s runtime is 113 minutes, and you feel a lot of it. The first act drags, which should not be the case considering this the third film in this series. By the time we get to the end, in the supposed climax, was cheapened by much of the runtime being bogged down with a useless side plots (sorry Millie Bobby Brown, you didn’t need to be here) that suck all the momentum out of the film.

Technical notes

Let me give credit to the director and his production team. This film is beautiful. The colors are crisp and vibrant, and the action scenes (when they happen) are easy to follow and fill the screen. They are the highlight of the film, which is a shame that we have to wait so long between them.

Overall

This should have been a slam dunk. Despite being beautifully shot,  the pointless side-quest and the lack of respect given to one of the two main characters makes Godzilla Vs Kong at best, a draw.

Score: 2 1/2 out of 4 briefcases

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