Legends collide as Godzilla and Kong, the two most powerful forces of nature, clash on the big screen in a spectacular battle for the ages. As a squadron comprised of Nathan Lind (Alexander Skarsgard), Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall), Maya Simmonds (Eiza Gonzalez) and Jia (Kaylee Hottle), embarks on a perilous mission into fantastic uncharted terrain, unearthing clues to the Titans' very origins and mankind's survival, a conspiracy threatens to wipe the creatures, both good and bad, from the face of the earth forever. Meanwhile, a conspiracy theorist, Bernie (Brian Tyree Henry), who worked uncover in the lab to extract as much information as he could, has teamed up with Madison Russell (Millie Bobby Brown) and Josh Valentine (Julian Dennison) in order to expose the conspiracies only to get in over their heads.
Others to round out the cast are Shun Oguri as Ren Serizawa, Lance Reddick as Guillermin, Kyle Chandler as Mark Russell, Madison's father, Demian Bichir as Walter Simmonds, Maya's father, Hakeem Kae-Kazim as Admiral Wilcox and Ronny Chieng as Jay Wayne.
This was directed by formidable Adam Wingard ("Home Sick" '07, "Pop Skull" '07, "A Horrible Way to Die" '10, "Autoerotic" '11, "What Fun We Were Having" '11, "You're Next" '11, "60 Seconds of Solitude in Year Zero" '11, "V/H/S" (segment "Tape 56") '12, "The ABCs of Death" (segment "Q is for Quack") '12, "V/H/S/2" (segment "Phase I Clinical Trials") '13, "The Guest" '14, "Blair Witch" '16, "Death Note" '17) plus TV and shorts. As with some other contemporary directors, Wingard certainly can't be pigeon-holed. Between Godzilla, "Autoerotic" and "Blair Witch", he definitely runs the gambit in what kinds of genres he's willing to tackle. I believe the only genre he hasn't embraced is that of comedy, and it would be interesting to see how he could do with that. Certainly the audience isn't watching this for its directing technique, which I'm sure Wingard realized, But maneuvering his actors in the right place was pivotal. It was written by Eric Pearson ("Thor: Ragnarok" '17, "Black Widow" '21) plus TV and video shorts and Max Borenstein ("Swordswallowers and Thin Men" '03, "Godzilla" '14, "Kong: Skull Island" '17, "Worth" '20) plus TV and shorts, based on a story by Terry Rossio, Michael Dougherty and Zach Shields, which is based on the character "Godzilla" created by TOHO Co. Ltd. Considering this film wasn't made for its quality writing, it actually shined far better than I thought it would. The plot encumbers many pivotal people in situations that ultimately culminates with the battle of the monsters. This can be a daunting feat, but these writers pulled it off. But, look at the above respective resumes and you'll realize why. Really, what this film is all about are these two huge monsters duking it out with each other is what makes this a fun-filled, totally escapism type of film. It has the characters where and when they need to be, however this is clearly all about the creatures. And with this, the visual effects predominantly created by Weta Digital and MPC (Moving Picture Company) were absolutely seamless, and was the sound design by Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn.
If you are looking for an artistically well directed, written and acted film with this, you will be sorely disappointed, however, if you are looking for total escapism, watching two huge monsters duking it out on a huge screen, this is the film for you. If you don't like a regular 35mm cut, it not only is shown in 3D, but an IMAX format as well. This was my first film back in the theater since approximately October, when the theaters were open for a short time before shutting down again.
Out of 4 Stars: 3 Rated: PG-13 113mins.
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