A few years after the events of 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Godzilla reappears to seemingly attack Apex Cybernetic bases out of malice, whilst Kong is being monitored on Skull Island. When Kong is transported in order to discover the entrance to the Hollow Earth, Godzilla senses the other alpha titan, kicking off the monstrous clash for supremacy that takes centre stage throughout Adam Wingard’s spectacular Godzilla vs. Kong.
The MonsterVerse has been around since 2014, with this being the fourth and potentially final instalment. The biggest criticisms of the previous movies have centred on the lack of action and the heavy focus on human characters. GvK bucks that trend and delivers a fierce, powerful and crowd-pleasing balance of city-levelling kaiju battles with the right level of human-based exposition to keep the narrative steaming along. The two concurrent human storylines actually benefit the final product, with moments that don’t feel overbearing at all.
The visuals and cinematography are the best of the franchise, with the titular fan-favourites looking their best and the sprawling cityscapes – including a neon-soaked Hong Kong – breathtaking to look at as these Alphas level the skyscrapers.
JunkieXL had the difficult task of providing a score fit for two Kings, but he delivers on all fronts, with the right level of emotion mixed with a hearty degree of triumphant action and the classical tones of Ifakube’s iconic score.
Godzilla vs. Kong is the perfect titanic blockbuster to kickstart the reopening of cinemas across the world. It’s tremendous amounts of fun, with hard-hitting action, gorgeous cinematography and jaw-dropping visuals all wrapped up in a smash hit package.
If this is indeed the end of the big-screen outings for the MonsterVerse, the franchise goes out with one hell of a glorious bang.
Godzilla vs. Kong is out now to rent via PVOD in the UK, and in Cinemas and on HBO Max in the US.
