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| Godzilla tackles Kong |
GODZILLA VS. KONG (2021.) Director: Adam Wingard.
Of the two monster icons Godzilla is behaving badly since his last appearance in Godzilla, King of the Monsters, attacking a Florida compound, and the equally gigantic Kong wants out of the artificial habitat he has been imprisoned in since Kong: Skull Island. It is decided that Kong will be taken to a hole in the earth through which he can descend to the hollow world inside the planet (think: Edgar Rice Burroughs' Pellucidar) where he may find others of his kind; others are only after a new energy source. Meanwhile Godzilla attacks the ship transporting Kong, and then turns his wrath on Hong Kong while a kind of "mecha-Godzilla" -- a Godzilla robot -- shows up to battle the big guy. Will Kong fight Godzilla or help him beat up on the big robot? More importantly, will anyone over the age of five give a damn?
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| Admittedly striking scenic design of inner-earth |
I am a big fan of monster movies, having written Creature Features: Nature Turned Nasty in the Movies, but I am appalled by the current state of the genre. The special effects in Godzilla vs Kong can not be faulted, but the direction and editing are simply terrible, the photography is cluttered and unappealing, and there isn't a single moment in the movie that I could call thrilling or especially suspenseful. The scenic design is wonderful and a lot of gifted technicians and artists have made major contributions, but when the whole project is bankrupt to begin with because of a mediocre screenplay, all of this effort is simply wasted.
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| Where's my agent? Alexander Skarsgard |
Godzilla vs Kong may not be as silly as the Japanese King Kong vs. Godzilla made in the sixties, but despite the great FX, it isn't much more entertaining. As for the human characters, most of them are irritating nerds, and the little deaf girl who can communicate with Kong (who speaks one word at one point), while adorable, is also annoying. While I won't compare Godzilla vs Kong with a cheap Syfy channel movie, I'd have to say that any actor who appears in stuff like this should have a serious talk with their agent. Alexander Skarsgard, who plays a scientist, may not be a major star, but surely he can do better than this? (He's done a lot of TV lately and that seems to be his future.) As usual all the dead people of Hong Kong are completely forgotten at the end.
Verdict: Great FX work, yes, but little else. **.
Hi Bill - Unfortunately the FX always outshine the script these days. I love actors like Skaargard but they are given precious little to do and say. Just watched Chris Pratt in The Tomorrow World and it had a great setup, then just battle scenes for the next hour with almost no dialogue. Disappointing!
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The Chris Pratt movie was on my list but I may give it a pass. I suppose actors like Skaarsgard think it won't do any harm to be in what might be a box office winner, but I don't think these flicks do much for any actor's career actually.
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