Tag Archives: Kong

Apr 2 2021

Godzilla Vs. Kong Is The Epic Clash We’ve Been Waiting For!

Ever since Godzilla and King Kong have made their way into recent films with modern fx technology we’ve been wating for the inevitable clash between these two legendary titans. Fans had their dreams answered with the new take of Godzilla vs. Kong, and boy does this film deliver!

First of all, let’s be clear. Godzilla vs. Kong is not Citizen Kane or even Blade Runner. It does not feature any deep, meaningful storylines or characters, it just gives viewers a classic slugfest between the two iconic film legends. What characters there are only exist to provide brief explanations, theories and to move the plot along. It is clear that Legendary Entertainment has figured out that from Godzilla, its first entry in their Monsterverse cinematic universe, that audiences have little patience for human drama in these films and only show up to see detailed and powerful battles between giant monsters as they destroy their landscapes. The fourth Monsterverse film wisely, depending on your point of view, puts aside human drama and intricate plots and just sprinkle these elements to service the film and give the giant monster legends a reason to fight.

The film begins with Godzilla unexpectedly showing up off the coast of Florida and decimating the location of Apex Cybernetics. While the world believes the mighty Alpha Titan has gone rogue, there is more to his attack. At the same time, the other Alpha Titan, Kong is introduced as being held inside a massive dome on Skull Island that recreates his primordial kingdom. Apparently at some point before this film, he was captured and placed there to protect him from Godzilla, who would otherwise seek out Kong and battle him since he is a competing Alpha Titan. But Kong wants out of his gilded cage and is somehow able to communicate with Jia (Kaylee Hottle) the young, deaf daughter of Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall), one of the many scientists studying the giant gorilla. Ilene meets another scientist, Nathan Lind (Alexander Skarsgard), who wants to use Kong to lead his team into the Earth’s core. Lind believes in the Hollow Earth theory, which he thinks is the home of the gigantic titans and the source of a new kind of energy.

At the same time, Madison Russell (Millie Bobby Brown reprising her role from Godzilla: King of the Monsters), her nerdy friend Josh Valentine (Julien Dennison), and Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry), a conspiracy podcaster find out that Apex is also interested in exploring the inner Earth and obtaining the energy source. How does this relate to Godzilla and King Kong and other kaijus that pop up? Watch the movie to find out.

Actually, the threadbare plot is nonsense and is not fully explained, but who cares? It’s just a means to get the two giant kaijus to duke it out. Director Adam Wingard delivers the goods when it comes to epic clashes. Godzilla vs. Kong lovingly revels in beautifully choreographed shots of massive battles between the titans and other creatures. Modern cities are just a playground for these giants to stomp around in and destroy during their battles as humans can only do their best to get out of the way.

Keep in mind, that despite the film’s thin plot and underdeveloped characters, the actors give it their all and keep things moving at a fast pace to the point that we don’t mind the human interludes in between monster scenes since every human interaction directly deals with either Kong or Godzilla. This actually helps inect some personality into the monsters, especially Kong. In reality, this is more of a Kong film with Godzilla as a feature character who pops up to challenge the giant ape throughout the film. The result is that Kong has more character than expected and is placed in unique situations that is outside of what is often given to the screen legend. Not only does this reveal that Kong is far more intelligent than we thought, but he’s humanized to the point that even if you are on Team Godzilla you can’t help but root for him during critical moments in the explosive battles. Honestly, it was hard to pick a side, Team Kong or Team Godzilla, as we have reasons to root for both monsters who get their standout moments and demonstrate why they are the kings of their domains.

Needless to say the film’s stunning visuals alone are worth taking a chance to see in theaters. Of course, only go to a theater if you are fully vaccinated since you can’t tell beforehand if you’ll be stuck in the theater with selfish maskholes! Otherwise, be sure to stream this in the best home theater environment possible because Godzilla vs. Kong is a pure delight for kaiju and action fans.

Godzilla vs. Kong is the culmination of nearly a decade’s worth of Monsterverse films and is, at the moment, the final film in the Monsterverse. Hopefully, being that the film has captured the imagination of so many and is being well received despite its faults, maybe we can revisit the Monsterverse since there is more to explore, especially with King Kong.

José Soto

Mar 12 2017

Kong Rules Skull Island

Kong: Skull Island is new feature film starring the famous giant gorilla, King Kong. It is set up to be part of a new shared cinematic universe that focuses on giant monsters and by itself Kong: Skull Island is quite an exciting thrill ride.

The film opens in the early 1970s as Bill Randa (John Goodman) launches an expedition to an uncharted island surrounded by perpetual storm systems. He is coy about the expedition’s purpose, claiming it’s a geological study, but we find out later his real reason for undertaking the voyage. Joining him is an all-star cast including Tom Hiddleston as James Conrad, a former soldier turned expert tracker, Brie Larson as Mason Weaver, a crusading photojournalist, and Samuel L. Jackson as Col. Preston Packard, the military head of the expedition. Once they and several others make it to the island they incur the wrath of Kong, a gigantic gorilla that strands them on the dangerous island. As the expedition survivors make their way to a pick up point on the island, they meet a marooned, World War II-era pilot, Hank Marlow (John C. Reilly) and learn first hand of the true danger of Skull Island: gigantic beasts that are a bigger threat than Kong himself.

Kong: Skull Island is an exciting and brisk-moving ode to those great old monster movies from the bygone era where hapless people are stranded on an island and have to contend with giant monsters. It does what it sets out to do: show us lots of scenes of giant monsters attacking and eating people and there are many invigorating action pieces with Kong that are the film’s highlights. The standout scenes include Kong’s attack on the Vietnam War-era helicopters carrying the film’s stars, and anytime Kong shows why he’s the king of Skull Island. That is any scene where King Kong fights with giant monsters. The creatures are wonderfully unique creations and quite imposing like the two-limbed skull crawlers that are Kong’s main monstrous enemies.

His other chief antagonist is Col. Packard who quickly becomes obsessed with killing Kong after his people are wiped out by Kong. This Ahab-like obsession is the driving force for this character and the people around him while an opposing viewpoint develops from Conrad and some others who just want to get off the island.

Admittedly, Kong: Skull Island isn’t a terribly deep or thought-provoking film and the characters are written on the flimsy side, but the film delivers on what it is supposed to be a fun giant monster film. Even then, some characters do stand out and that is largely due to the star power of the actors playing these roles. The standouts include Reilly, who provides quirky comedy relief though he does have a sad backstory, Hiddleston turns out to be a hard-fisted action hero, while Larson, Goodman and Jackson do their best with their limited roles. The only other gripe about Kong: Skull Island is that it doesn’t feature any dinosaurs. Aside from a triceratops skull, there isn’t a t-rex or other prehistoric monster to be seen. But in the end, the creatures conjured up by the effects them makes up for this. By the way, the creature effects were well done as were the production values and the film’s groovy early ’70s soundtrack is a plus. Any giant monster film that features Creedence get bonus points!

Of course, the real star of this film is King Kong himself. The film wisely let the big ape hog the spotlight and there are plenty of scenes featuring him to keep the film moving along briskly. Even the moments when Kong isn’t fighting humans or other monsters are awesome and there is a well thought out sense of scale to his enormous size.

kong vs skull crawler

 

Kong: Skull Island is an entertaining giant monster film that might’ve been a better fit for a summer viewing. Some critics are being unfair to this film with their complaints. But don’t let that stop anyone from going out, turning off their brain and worries, and enjoying themselves with this giant monster romp. Bottom line, this film delivers many great Kong action scenes of him stomping and smashing monsters and puny humans, and that is enough to keep any giant monster film fan entertained. And stick around for the post-credits scene that promises an eagerly anticipated meeting of Kong with the other great giant monster.

Waldermann Rivera