Godzilla vs Kong (2021) movie review

Overall verdict: 7/10

The Good: Beautiful visual effects, awesome action, rich world building, expressive monsters, relatable protagonist in Kong

The Bad: Shallow characters, rushed story, repetitive music, superficial narrative, wasted potential

***********Review*********** 

 GODZILLA VS KONG. This is the crossover that the “Legendary Monsterverse” has been building up to since its inception in 2014 with GODZILLA and then in 2017 with KONG: SKULL ISLAND. In living up to its title, GVK delivers spectacularly . It delivers breathtaking monster action and amazing visuals that push the boundaries of modern visual effects, all strung together with an excuse plot that is both jam packed and paper thin at the same time. 

 Really, the “plot” only exist because the very medium demands at least an adherence to the “beginning middle and end” structure. It exists just to bring us from one monster fight to the next. It feels jam packed because there are multiple sub plots happening at the same time which does a lot of world building. But the pace at which we just breeze through all this rich material is a huge let down. 

 First we have Madison Russell (Millie Bobbie Brown) and her father Mark (Kyle Chandler) returning from 2019’s GODZILLA KING OF THE MONSTERS. We touch on some father/daughter tension and then we forget about it as we go into this “teen pals uncovering shady organisation research mystery” type plot no doubt riding on Millie Bobby Brown’s association with the STRANGER THINGS series. This sub plot is just silly but fun in a teen escapism kind of way similar to a Scooby Doo cartoon. How do two kids penetrate a highly guarded state of the art research facility? How does no one realise there are intruders in plain sight on the floor of a big open underground chamber with cameras everywhere and even an elevated viewing platform? Why are they able to do quickly track down their hilarious comic relief conspiracy nut (possibly my favourite character of the whole movie played by Brian Tyree Henry) by tracking bulk purchases of bleach in Chinese shops? It’s absurd, and it’s rushed, with so many convenient contrivances, but it’s fun. 

 Also it leads to an awesome payoff even if the villains involved are criminally underutilized. One of them just exists to be evil corporate guy running Apex (the aforementioned shady tech company) with no prior setup in a past movie and another is supposed to be the son of Dr Serizawa (Ken Watanabe’s character) from the previous 2 Godzilla movies. Why he’s a bad guy here, what are his motives, none of that is fleshed out. 

This is sub plot 3, which sees our obvious villains creating a new weapon to reestablish humanity’s dominance over the giant monsters. Except that Godzilla seems to be taking this personally and his efforts to destroy the villains’ work are being branded as him having gone rogue against humanity. Again, absurd but fun. 

 Equally absurd is sub plot number 4 involving the destruction of Kong’s natural habitat on Skull Island by an eternal super storm and efforts to find him a new home. Complicating matters is the fact that Godzilla will come and try to attack Kong because he senses Kong as a rival Alpha among titans. It leads in to subplot 5, and easily the most amount wasted potential: Kong rediscovering the lost world within the fabled “hollow earth” with scientist Nathan Lind (Alexander Skarsgard) and greedy corporate types led by Maya Simmons (Eiza Gonzalez) tailing him in order to find some mystical energy source. 

This entire sub plot alone could have been the basis for a standalone Kong movie as we explore this rich enchanting hidden world and threats that lurk within. Instead we are whisked through this subplot in a matter of minutes; yet another loose thread that serves to string together action scenes so that it qualifies as a “movie”. None of our characters get any development or any characterization beyond the most superficial character traits and tropes, grossed over at the same rushed pace as the narrative. Once more, acting purely to qualify this work as a “movie” and to propel us from one action sequence to the next. 

Fortunately the action sequences involving Godzilla and Kong, both against each other and against other threats, are monster mayhem perfection! Boasting what is possibly THE BEST Visual effects and motion capture CGI seen in movies thus far, GVK’s fights are exhilarating, breathtaking, intense; they are as spectacular as visual spectacles come. Director Adam Wingard went wild with bringing this world to life. From the cold grey steel of Apex’s sinister underbelly to the ethereal blues and earthy browns of the hollow earth, then to the neon lit skyline of Hong Kong; the way he uses lighting and creative camerawork really lends this energy and majesty to what we see on screen. 

Accompanying the visuals and action is the background music, courtesy of composer Tom Holkenborg. It sounds like a loose homage to monster movie music in general and does it’s job in being just ok, if not repetitive at times. It does not have the clear classic kaiju films influence of Alexander Desplat’s GODIZLLA or the elevated tribute to the music of the original Godzilla franchise that we had with Bear McReary’s KING OF THE MONSTERS. 

 As for our titular Titans, Kong is the Star with Godzilla as just a supporting antagonist. This is Kong’s story, a true underdog story of tragedy and triumph. His relationship with deaf girl Jai is a heartwarming one and his sheer tenacity on his journey against far superior foes is enough to win the respect of most detractors. Performance capture technology has imbued these creatures with facial expressions and body language that is so lifelike and uncannily human. Never had giant monsters been so expressive and even more so than some of their live action human co-stars. 

 Despite my criticisms, I do want the monsterverse as a franchise to continue. At just 4 movies, it will be a great loss to the entertainment world if the Legendary Monsterverse were to end here. For all its flaws, GODZILLA VS KONG does a ton of world building in a super short time and it has opened up a rich cinematic world with tons of spinoff potential. The kind of tech pioneered by Apex and the hollow earth concept are the perfect setup for other giant monster movies in this same world and setting. Then again, this is only on the assumption that whoever holds the reins of the monsterverse’s future gives more thought and effort into crafting movies that hold some deeper narrative merit than just superficial action spectacle. 

***********Review***********

Entertainment: A

Story: C+
Acting: B+

Characters: C-

Music: C+

Replay value: A

"Brains": D+

Godzilla: Tokyo SOS (2003) movie review

Overall verdict: 6/10

The Good:  great special effects, detailed monster designs, touches on deeper themes, retroactively creates a shared universe

The Bad: unlikable characters, bland plot, repetitive music, cartoonish fight scenes, mediocre acting from main cast

***********Review***********

GODZILLA: TOKYO SOS has the honor of being the only “sequel” to exist in the Millennium era of the long running Godzilla franchise. Taking place a year after the events of GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA, Tokyo SOS sees the return of not only fan favorite Mothra but of late actor Hiroshi Koizumi reprising the role of Dr Shinichi Chujo from the 1961 movie MOTHRA.

With the Mechagodzilla named Kiryu undergoing hasty repairs in preparation for Godzilla’s return, Mothra’s fairies, the Shobijin, appear to Dr Chujo, his grandson, and his nephew Yoshito, with a warning that using the bones of the previous Godzilla in the construction of Kiryu was an affront to the natural order of the universe and if the bones are returned to the sea, Mothra would take Kiryu’s place as Japan’s defender.

Of course the Japanese government is reluctant to give up the one weapon capable of defeating Godzilla, and have much less faith in Mothra’s capabilities. As Godzilla returns to wreak havoc, those capabilities will be put to the test alongside an increasingly unstable Kiryu that is still haunted by its memories of its death back in 1954.

In its overall premise, TOKYO SOS shows a lot of potential. It goes back to the “humanity’s sins returning to punish them” theme that was prevalent in the first Godzilla movie. It also promises an exploration of two common contrasting reactions to disasters: faith in the divine (embodied by the fairies asking for japan to trust in Mothra) and a pride driven reliance on human capability and self determinism (embodied by the government’s refusal to scrap Mechagodzilla).

 Where the film could have delved deep into these themes, deconstructing both or showing how they can coexist hand in hand, it instead drops the ball in favour of cliched storytelling and characters.

Rather than continuing the previous movie’s character development, those already shallow characters are ditched in favour of new though much less likable characters. Our main protagonist is Yoshito Chujo, a hot headed mechanic in the Kiryu maintenance team. He had a quirk for understanding machines more than people and.....that’s about it. 

The movie sets up a relationship triangle between Yoshito, former mechanic turned pilot Azusa, and another arrogant male pilot Akiba which.....goes no where. You get a couple of scenes involving fiery male tension and that’s it. Not much in the way of resolution other than an arc about how our lowly mechanic wins the respect of the glorious pilots (an arc that was already done in GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA). 

In terms of acting, the older actors do a much better job. Almost as if the younger actors portraying the young adult characters, especially Azusa, were hired more for their looks than ability. The characters they portray come across as generally unlikable with only Yoshito having some redeeming qualities.

Visually, this movie upholds the standards set by its predecessor: beautiful imagery, detailed miniatures and monster suits, near flawless visual compositing. It also upholds the flaws, retaining the overly choreographed cartoony battles and the stiff movements of the monsters.

What I appreciated the most of GODZILLA: TOKYO SOS, was how it and it’s predecessor GODZILLA AGAINST MEGHAGODZILLA is the first Godzilla movie to retroactively establish a proper “shared cinematic universe” by bringing in old Toho movies like MOTHRA and WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS as part of its continuity. This stands in contrast to the Showa era and heisei era Godzilla movies which were just sequels to each other and not actual “shared” cinematic universes in the way we know them now.

Other than that this movie is a mixed bag for me. For every positive such as the special effects, the shared universe lore building, and a return to the darker themes of the original GODZILLA movie, there are equal number of negatives in the cliched storyline, unlikable characters, and cartoonish fights.

***********Review***********

Entertainment: B+

Story: C-
Acting: C+

Characters: C-

Music: C+

Replay value: B+

"Brains": C+

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2002) movie review

Overall verdict: 7/10

The Good:  Awesome special effects, likeable human characters, "feel good" story, relatable themes, easy to follow narrative.

The Bad: cartoony battles, cheesy dialogue, cliched plot, reuses many elements from previous movie, 

***********Review***********

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla is the fourth Godzilla film in the “millenium era” that started with Godzilla 2000. It is the second Godzilla movie by director Masaaki Tezuka, after his previous (and relatively unimpressive) GODZILLA X MEGAGUIRUS, and this entry retreads a lot of ground covered by that movie. So much that it’s plot could be considered a remake of GXMegaguirus only with Mechagodzilla.
After the first Godzilla that attacked japan in 1954, there have been attacks by other giant monsters prompting the formation of the Anti Megalosaurus Force (AMF), an elite tactical unit given sci fi technology and tasked with fending off such attacks. A failed sortie against a new Godzilla in 1999 had prompted Japan To use the bones of the previous Godzilla to create Kiryu, a titanic robot in the form of Godzilla: a Mechagodzilla. 

Equipped with missiles, beam weapons and the dangerous “absolute zero” freeze cannon, Kiryu is a force to be reckoned with. Unfortunately their first battle awakens the memories of the Godzilla whose remains form a part of Kiryu and the giant robot causes just as much damage as the monster it was designed to stop. While awaiting the next attack, the AMF scrambles to ensure Kiryu is able to remain in control.
It’s similarity to GXMegaguirus comes in not just the setup of a deadly uncontrollable new weapon that leads to more trouble than it is worth, but also the characters. The 2 main characters are Akane Yashiro, a soldier and survivor of the failed 1999 sortie racked with guilt and vowing revenge against Godzilla, and Tokumitsu Yuhara, an optimistic jokey scientist who helped with the creation of Kiryu. 

Both of them are rehashed from the characters in GXMegaguirus Kiriko Tsujimori and Hajime Kudo, complete with the scientist trying to get friendly with the cold and distant soldier. Fortunately, the character development here is more gradual and the characters themselves more likable than Director Tezuka’s prior efforts. 

The addition of Tokumitsu’s daughter and her bond within Akane gives the soldier an emotional anchor to slowly warm up to. Akane’s character arc of at first being looked down upon by fellow teammates but slowly winning over their respect to be treated as an equal mirrors a very real challenge women in male dominant professions continue to face.
The overall tale is much more focused on the human characters with a very pro-humanist slant. Godzilla himself is devoid of personality, reduced to merely being “generic threat to humanity”, an obstacle that a country can overcome through unity, dedication and ingenuity. 

It is decidedly more in the “feel good” category as compared to the more nihilistic GODZILLA, MOTHRA, KING GHIDORAH: GIANT MONSTERS ALL OUT ATTACK. Depending on one’s taste, this could be seen as an improvement over something that was too dark or as a step backward into more idealistic “happy and kid friendly” territory.
A more objective improvement is in the special effects. Miniatures of the buildings, vehicles and city are breathtakingly detailed. Green screen effects are also more polished than what came before. 

However with detail comes a trade off, and that can be seen in the monsters themselves. The well crafted giant monsters move very stiffly; melee fights consists of awkward flailing or pushing or hugging each other while pyrotechnics go off behind them. 

Director Tezuka tried to get around these limitations by enhancing the footage with CGI and filming in a certain style involving over the top feats. This all only adds to the often cartoony feel of the battles like one scene when Mechagodzilla flies at full speed to tackle Godzilla away. Mechagodzilla comes to a complete stop upon hitting Godzilla and just stands there while Godzilla is sent careening into the distance. It is like something out of Looney Tunes!
Like Kiryu of the story, GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA is not without some kinks. For all it’s good special effects, characters and themes, you have the cartoony battles, the often over the top acting, and the cliche ridden story that we have seen twice already. 

For me, I found it very entertaining despite its shortcomings. It is a competent movie and while I did prefer something darker, I do appreciate the entertainment value of this one.


***********Review***********

Entertainment: A

Story: C+
Acting: B-

Characters: A

Music: C+

Replay value: B-

"Brains": C+

Godzilla: King of The Monsters (2019) movie review

Overall verdict: 8.5/10

The ultimate gateway movie into the Godzilla franchise.

The Good: Magnificent monster battles, well acted relatable characters, memorable supporting cast, simple human centred storyline, great visual effects, probably the best soundtrack ever by composer Bear McCreary. 

The Bad: rushed plot with little breathing room, seemingly light on underlying themes or philosophical depth.

***********Review***********

The sequel to 2014’s GODZILLA and third installment to Legendary Studio’s “Monsterverse”, is a non-stop, edge of the seat thrill ride in the vein of classic worldwide disaster movies like INDEPENDENCE DAY. Building on feedback from the previous installment, director Michael Dougherty delivers a spectacular love letter to the entire 65 year old (as of this year) franchise. It is exciting, it is beautiful, tragic, grand, an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish.

We start off in real-time 2019. In the years following Godzilla’s battle which leveled San Francisco back in 2014, the world is divided over the knowledge that more of these so called titans exist and that the organization”MONARCH” desires to protect them despite the destruction they may cause. Amidst this chaotic backdrop, a MONARCH facility in China is raided by an eco terrorist cell who kidnaps scientist Emma Russell along with her daughter Madison, so as to use her invention called the “orca”; a machine that is able to record and mimic the titans' bioacoustics signals which they use to communicate with each other. 

Led by the enigmatic renegade Alan Jonah, the eco terrorists plan to use the orca to awaken the hibernating titans in hope that they will restore the earth to its former glory. But there is more to this plot than meets the eye. Meanwhile, MONARCH engages the help of Doctor Mark Russell, Emma’s estranged husband, and co-inventor of the orca, to try and locate the stolen device, his kidnapped ex-wife and child.

If it starts to sound like a human focused “angry dad rescuing family” kind of movie, rest assured it is not. Our giant monsters, the titans, they are not just the backdrop, they feature front and centre from the get go. The target of the terrorists plot is to awaken “Ghidorah”, a three headed dragon who had been the basis of myths. They hope for Ghidorah to establish dominance over the other titans and control them. Unfortunately, Ghidorah himself has other plans. With seemingly alien abilities and power beyond measure, the only titan that might stand a chance against the multi headed monstrosity, is Godzilla.

From the very first on screen appearance of Mothra, to Ghidorah, to the bird-like Rodan, and of course Godzilla, the whole movie goes full throttle with its plot. There is never a dull moment as we follow Mark and the MONARCH scientists led by Dr Serizawa across the globe trying to prevent an end-of-the-world scenario. You could say that it moves so fast that there is hardly any breathing room. Plot developments and characters development happen simultaneously and it’s easily to get lost in the details if you do not pay attention. At times, it feels like there may have been a scene or two which was cut out which may have eased the flow of the movie, but this is a minor complaint.

At our story’s core is a tale of a broken individuals dealing with loss at the expense of a loved one. The Russells were victims of the San Francisco Godzilla battle. Their ordeal drove Mark to drink and become abusive leading to his divorce with Emma who in turn buried herself into her work, all while Madison suffered the fallout. In their journey towards making peace with the past, we see two hurt individuals who had let their loss fracture their family,  now choose to put aside their differences for the sake of their child and the world. It is a simple plot thread but with a heartwarming message.

The cast play their roles perfectly; especially Kyle Chandler as Mark Russell and Serizawa played by veteran actor Ken Watanabe. The latter‘s role in the story becomes even more poignant if you watch the first movie and read both prequel comics “Godzilla Awakening” and “Godzilla Aftershock”, knowing more about his history and a his connection to both Godzilla and nuclear weapons.

However, the ones I found the most memorable were the G-Team led by badass lady Colonel Diane Foster. They are side characters with minimal development but the situations they are called to deal with, suppressing a terrorist attack, evacuating a city, luring an enraged Rodan away from a populated area, they do all that with guts and a strict dedication to their duty. The best part of it all? The human element is sufficient and never overstays it’s welcome.

Equal focus is given to the star attraction themselves: the giant monsters. All of them, Mothra, Rodan, Ghidorah and Godzilla all feature cool redesigns that pay homage to their original looks while taking it to a whole new level of badass. Moving Pictures Company (MPC) has outdone themselves once again in the CGI department. Special mention goes to the performance capture used for Ghidorah and Godzilla. Their expressions showcase clear human-like emotions and traits. Their body language blending the actor’s performance with animalistic like movements. This motion capture is truly the descendant of traditional rubber suit monster performances.

And when the titans clash, the visuals and cinematography effectively convey the immense scale of their battles. Thanks to Director Michael Dougherty and cinematographer Lawrence Sher, the movie is spectacularly shot with dark apocalyptic visuals, heightening the surreal spectacle of these massive clashes. We are truly witnessing war among gods! Pulse pounding music by composer Bear McCreary reproduces many of the iconic tunes from past Godzilla movies while giving his own unique spin, with drums and chants, imbuing an almost operatic feel to the movie. This is easily his greatest work to date.

From the music to the characters to the monsters themselves, everything! The passion and love of the genre coming from the cast and crew is evident in every minute of this film. I would have liked a bit more time and focus spent on its underlying themes but perhaps the underdevelopment of such themes was the result of the movie's fast pace. 


That being said, it is great for Newcomers to the Godzilla franchise thanks to the simple story, memorable characters, decent actors, and tight script. If you needed a gateway into the Godzilla or giant monster franchise, this is it! For long time fans, there are numerous Easter eggs, references, callbacks, and parallels to past films. See if you can recognise them all. All in all GODZILLA KING OF THE MONSTERS distills everything cool about Godzilla into a single modern movie. Highly recommended.

***********Review***********

Entertainment: A

Story: B

Acting: A

Characters: A-

Music: A

Replay value: A

"Brains": C-