Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)

★★★ 1/2

A couple of years ago, my wife and I went to see Mission: Impossible: Fallout.  After the film, she told me she didn't like the movie and was surprised that I enjoyed it.  She felt the plot was convoluted, the characters were flat, and nothing made sense.  She expected me to agree, but I replied, "Tom Cruise jumps out of a freaking plane—so who cares!?"

Godzilla v. Kong falls into the same category.  Don't get me wrong—MI: Fallout is one of the best action movies of the decade; this film is not.  But both eschew plot and character development and put all their eggs in the "wow-look-at-that" basket.  

The plot doesn't matter, but the film is a continuation of the MonsterVerse—Gozilla (2014), Kong: Skull Island (2017), and Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019).  You don't need to have seen those movies to appreciate this one, though the convoluted plot will make more sense if you do.  Godzilla and Kong are ancient enemies who want to fight each other while a tech company wants to exploit their power.  Trust me, you'll enjoy this movie more if you don't concern yourself with the minutiae of things like "the Hollow Earth."

The film delivers on its promise to have a giant nuclear lizard fight a giant ape.  The battles are thrilling and, in classic "vs. movie" fashion, the two team up to fight a common enemy at the end.  In a sub-two-hour movie, you get your money's worth of epic showdowns between giant monsters.  Compared with the prior films, the CGI is much better and the monsters are almost never obscured by darkness, a trick VFX artists use to keep the budget low.

Sometimes, you want a high-quality steak.  Other times, a McDonald's burger and fries will do just fine.  Godzilla vs. Kong is not a steak, but that's okay—it's a cheap burger that hits the spot.  Not everything needs to be a deep social commentary on the state of the world.  There's a reason that this movie—and not something like the wonderful Nomadland— is the first true hit since the beginning of the pandemic.  People need something visceral to bring them back into movie theaters.  If that's what you're looking for, this is the movie for you.

Godzilla v. Kong is forgettable and confusing.  Not everyone will like it.  But, as I would say to my wife, "It's a freaking smackdown between Godzilla and King Kong—so who cares!?"