Godzilla vs. Kongis bringing back the MonsterVerse in full force, as the two juggernauts will literally be HBO Max’s biggest headliners so far. Although the movie’s trailer was a resounding success, the full-lengthGodzilla vs. Kongis proving to be a harder pill to swallow, according to critics.
Out of the previous iterations in the kaiju MonsterVerse, 2014’sGodzillaandKong: Skull Islandcertainly fared much better in both financial and critical performance, withGodzilla: King of the Monstersfalling off and potentially costing Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures a fair amount. Running on a budget nearing $200 million,Godzilla vs. Kongalready opened internationally as the biggest release since the pandemic, with China contributing handsomely in its $121.8 million haul worldwide.
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However, all that doesn’t meanGodzilla vs. Kongis any good, especially according to the first wave of American reviews, with Collider’s Matt Goldberg calling the film an “empty spectacle and mindless destruction” because of how it fails to integrate the human stories going on in between massive CGI monster fights. Meanwhile, ScreenCrush’s MattSinger calls the film “Monster vs. Script” on account ofGodzilla vs. Kongdedicating too much time to its bland human characters, rather than just go all out on the absolute monster bash that’s happening.
The Wrap’s Alonso Duralde notes that the movie focuses a lot more on Kong rather than his giant lizard opponent, warning Godzilla fans that there’s no hint of the latter’s theme song or legendary roars. On a more positive note, all critics pretty much praise theGodzilla vs. Kongaction and epic clashesbetween the two titans, for the most part considering them an improvement when compared to the past three movies, as it appears to be easier to keep track of everything that’s going on.
Overall, it seems thatGodzilla vs. Kongdelivers and exceeds expectations for the battles between the two protagonists, as the grand spectacle of watching monsters beat each other up is backed by Tom Holkenborg’s fantastic score, just like inZack Snyder’sJustice League. Despite it being clear that nobody is going to seeGodzilla vs. Kongunder the assumption that the human plot that ties the film together is anything to write home about, this one might drag down the overall enjoyment of the kaiju deathmatch just a tad more than usual.
With the hype ofmanyGodzilla vs. Kongmeme trailersand the promise of seeing Mechagodzilla in the film, no one who planned to see the movie should shy away from doing so. As Roger Ebert’s Matt Zoller put it, if it’s not the best, it’s surely one of the most fun films of this year.
Godzilla vs. Kongwill be available in theaters and on HBO Max starting March 31.
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