Review of Godzilla vs Kong
midlandsmovies • April 6, 2021
Godzilla vs Kong (2021) Dir. Adam Wingard
The fourth film in Legendary's “MonsterVerse”, Godzilla vs Kong is the long-awaited (for some) match-up between two monstrous icons of the big screen
The plot (as bare as it is), sees Kong trapped on Skull Island in a “virtual pen” (think The Truman Show’s massive self-contained dome) before the previously human-friendly Godzilla attacks a facility and they need Kong to protect themselves from the lizard’s provocations. Transporting Kong via sea, a large battle breaks out on a set of warships setting the scene for more explosive confrontations along the way.
Alongside this is the most perfunctory of people-plots where an evil scientist searches for a mysterious power source, a young deaf girl befriends Kong and a conspiracy theorist is proven right about hidden tech. And then this minimal character development is punctuated by city-wide punch-ups all orchestrated in glorious CGI.
But here’s my problem. I hate hate HATE the film’s aesthetic. Plastered in teal and orange (that was old hat a decade ago) the film’s human characters don’t occupy the same plane of existence as the CGI creatures and environments. I’ve been thinking about this for a while, but my theory is that younger viewers accept these visuals as they’re akin to video game cut scenes.
Yeah, yeah, this is a pure 21st century “boomer” problem, but to me they’re not even close to standard depictions of reality. Of course, it’s a monster movie but rather than go for a full filmmaker’s vision (think of the neon-lit surrealism of Del Toro’s Pacific Rim) this movie has no craft or personality and seemed as bland as they come.
For fans, these concerns won’t matter one jot but for me, despite the visuals being a technical marvel, they look like utter barf so why should I care? And with my tired and jaded set of peepers, it looks worse than both Peter Jackson’s King Kong and Gareth Edwards Godzilla from years ago.
The film continues with one semi-interesting segment as it goes off the rails into full sci-fi territory as Kong enters the “Hollow Earth”, a kind of grimy Pandora from Avatar looking land where these Titans came from. With spaceships (wtf), we’re miles from Godzilla (2014) and it probably nods to the lore but I was too braindead to find out.
Kong floats in the sky owing to some gravity shenanigans (yes, he does) and then we get more Pacific Rim rip-offs with a mecha controlled by “drifting” with the neurons of a recovered monster skull.
The sets are cheap looking and the humans are kept conveniently behind glass or in rooms so they effects artists don’t have to comp them together in the same shot as the computer animation it seems. There are about half a dozen shots in 2 hours where both a human and titan are in shot together.
I can acknowledge that audiences are not going to see this for the drama but the lack of any connection (visually, technically or narratively) meant most of this movie simply wasn’t engaging enough.
At best, it’s a gamers-heaven with slightly-better-than-PS5-graphics and smack-downs galore, at worst it’s simply hot garbage. Ending with Man of Steel-levels of city destruction (and about as much concern for its population as that film too) Godzilla vs Kong was so not my cup of tea and another entry in this universe I couldn’t get involved in.
Less cinematic than a video game animatic, the film left me completely numb by the end. And despite some great actors (Rebecca Hall, Millie Bobby Brown, Alexander Skarsgård and talented newcomer Kaylee Hottle) the film filled me with sadness that this is the level of blockbuster we’re currently offered. A Legendary let-down.
★½
Michael Sales
On Sunday 26th April Midlands Movies Editor Michael Sales & awards ceremony co-host Ed Stagg (BBC Radio) announced the nominations for the 2026 Midlands Movies Awards live from the Queen of Bradgate Vintage Cinema in Leicester. A big thanks was given to the entire Jury Panel of industry experts who gave up their precious time to watch a huge selection of creative projects and as always, had a difficult time choosing from the excellent number of films from the region. You can read the full list of nominations across all 16 categories below and watch our announcement videos here: Part 1 & Part 2 And please also check out our great awards partner Chrome Video Best Actress in a Leading Role Karendip Phull for Family Kate Bracken for The Lace Rachel Baker for Throwing Fruit Chloe Wade for How Long Sophie Bullock for Ma Prison Best Animated Film Of All the Things by Steff Lee Big Red by James Pyle Statue in the Garden by Qianhui Yu Butterfly by Jacob Christie Best Director Luke Worrall for The Waterline Lily Portman for Quiet Jack Richardson for Daniel’s Room Jonathan Hawes for Sorry We’re Closed Sophia Dall'Aglio for Man from Mars Best Documentary Nothing's Impossible by Jacob Thomas McClean A Birmingham Symphony by Jemma Saunders We Bring Light: Leicester's Diwali Legacy by Kieran Vyas The Sunshine Café by Jill Lampert Through the Viewfinder by William North Best Sound (Editing or Mixing) Neil Evans & his team for Artificial Insanity Alasdair Gretton for Dead on Distribution Deepanjali Patel for Earworm David Hamilton-Smith for The Pause Heidi Wilson for Of All The Things Best Actor in a Supporting Role Devon Junior for Lazar Tim Sparrow for Safety Net Shaiek Ahmed Rana for Family Luke Rollason for Quiet Peter Willoughby for A Story of Spring Best Visual & Special Effects Jake Wesley-Worrall for Soul Trader Steve Askey & team for The Correction Unit Nick Willett, Matt Burkey & Jayne Hyman for Black Goat JaqD SFX MUA, Mind Magic Studios and Ben Harker for Beyond the Witching Hour Pete Key, Jai Blanks and Jacob Christie for Countenance Best Cinematography Gary Rogers for The Pause Laurence Mason-Guetta for Sorry We’re Closed Ian Snape for Soul Trader Ash Connaughton for Daniel’s Room Duane Adamoli for Surfing (nominations continue below...)
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