Godzilla vs. Kong

Godzilla and King Kong revived their movie careers with 1962's Toho-produced King Kong vs. Godzilla. Now, the Kings of the Monsters are back to duke it out in theaters and HBOMax. Naturally, I had to see Godzilla vs. Kong on the latter option. Maybe I'll be back in theaters one day.

Today, I saw King Kong fight Godzilla. But I bet you knew that. 

The Government agency Monarch has King Kong held in a dome on his native Skull Island. Meanwhile, Godzilla stomps around Penascola for some reason. And a few other cities too. Walter Simmons (Demian Bechir), starts an expedition to Hollow Earth to find an anti-Godzilla solution. Monarch takes Kong as their unofficial guide. And then, lizard meets monkey.

Meanwhile, Madison Russell (Millie Bobbie Brown) and her pal, Josh (Julian Dennison), investigate Godzilla's rampages. They're joined by conspiracy theorist and podcaster Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry). They discover that Apex already has an anti-Godzilla solution. This Mecha Godzilla has a secret that irritates the original. Godzilla needs some big help to defeat it; but first, he and the big help must fight again.

Director Adam Wingard and his five writers waste no time. Both monsters appear on screen within the first ten minutes. They don't meet until a half-hour later, but we're rarely bored. We get to know the humans sufficiently well in the meantime. The highlights are a Monarch scientist, Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall) and her adopted daughter, Jia (Kaylee Hottle), a Skull Island native who communicates with Kong. Madison's part of the plot is intriguing, Hayes is cool, while scientist Nathan Lind (Alexander Skarsgaard) is just OK. It helps that the plot is understandable.

Now for the big stuff. The monster battles were made for the big screen. Their first bout at sea is impressive, while their rematch in Hong Kong is alluring thanks to its nighttime neon. Once again, they're visualized with great motion-capture CGI. Mecha Godzilla, in particular, is an intimidating robot monster. The Hollow Earth and its creatures are spectacular sights. A few technical stars include cinematographer Ben Seresin and composer Tom Holkenborg.

Godzilla vs Kong once again delivers its titanic promises. Its human characters were good, but its monsters were better. Anyone looking for deep drama should look into this year's Oscar nominees. See it on the biggest screen you can find. Stay safe if it's in a movie theater.