Review: Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)
This is the second round of a fight that has been decades in the making; the King of the Monsters takes on the reigning monarch of Skull Island in a fun, but wildly uneven Godzilla vs. Kong. This film is the fourth entry in what has been dubbed as Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures’ “Monsterverse;” one of the only remaining interconnected cinematic universes that are, for lack of a better term, aping the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Godzilla vs. Kong stars Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Shun Oguri, Eiza González, Julian Dennison, Kyle Chandler, and Demián Bichir.
What Worked with Godzilla vs. Kong
Do you like the idea of seeing Godzilla fight King Kong with some other monsters in the mix? if so, this film largely delivers on the potential of giant monster fights. The film features three major fight sequences in its runtime, the last of which lasts around 20 minutes. As far as who wins and who loses, there will most definitely be a debate. Yet all sequences are thrilling and serve the headliners well.
The fights are the main draw of the film and are by far are worth the price of admission. While some Godzilla projects emphasize the horror of the destruction, this film runs purely on spectacle, sanitizing the kaiju combat. The impetus for the conflict is a death total of 8 in an attack of Pensacola, Florida, by Godzilla. In his cinematic history, Godzilla has killed millions. Yet in giving us some monster to root for the scale of destruction is limited to leveling buildings and landscapes, where humans remain largely unscathed. There is no scene of a woman and her children awaiting their doom as the kaiju approaches, circa 1954. But this movie isn’t a parable, it’s just fun.
Regardless, every impact, swipe, and bite is immensely satisfying. The camera also follows closely behind the monsters, as though they are mounted like Go-Pros. So, as a titan goes down, so too does the camera; the perspective changes, emphasizing the power of these attacks. The scale also changes between perspectives. From the human view, these monsters are generally slow, their motions creating drag. From the kaiju view, the scale changes, and their motions are fast and furious. It’s incredibly visceral. The colors and cinematography are also fantastic, really creating a sense of awe and spectacle when firing on all cylinders.
Godzilla and Kong are the stars of the film, and while Godzilla is perhaps a little underutilized, every scowl and arrogant glance turns him into a full-fledged personality. This is Godzilla at his peak and he is aware of his power. The giant lizard nearly smiles at several points after particularly devastating attacks and his frustrations as the fights turn against him are clear. The bulk of the film, however, emphasizes the character of Kong. The ape is the heart of the film. His weariness at his involvement with the humans is fun to watch, and he serves as an underdog that you can’t help but cheer on, especially as you learn more about his connection to the Hollow Earth that has worked its way into the series since Kong: Skull Island.
While the human portions are largely perfunctory, two extremely compelling performances are found in Bryan Tyree Henry and Kaylee Hottle. Henry plays a Titan-conspiracy podcaster with the enthusiasm and energy you’d expect and that such a character deserves. Hottle, as Jia, an Iwi from Skull Island, has a charming connection to King Kong and might be the highlight of the Monsterverse’s human cast, along with Bryan Cranston, Samuel L. Jackson, and John C. Reilly.
As a whole, the interconnectedness of the Monsterverse has been fun to see develop. There are some issues with the approach, but the build-up to the confrontation between Godzilla and King Kong has been handled fairly well. Each film, since 2014’s Godzilla has created an inevitable expectation for these characters to meet, and the fact that this movie succeeds and delivers on such an expectation is a triumph.
What Didn’t Work with Godzilla vs. Kong
Most kaiju films, with a few notable exceptions, largely fail to deliver a compelling human angle. Sadly, this trend continues with Godzilla vs. Kong, saddling a damn fine monster story with three to four plots that divert attention with little reward. Returning characters, a necessity for an interconnected universe, are not utilized well, and their own stories, ones we should be invested in, don’t amount to much. Of the multiple human stories, the strongest involves an expedition into the Hollow Earth, but few of the characters prove compelling in this narrative. Skarsgård, particularly, feels overly bland and replaces a legacy character who should have been the one to visit Hollow Earth. This is a sign of a larger problem with Godzilla vs. Kong, and the larger Monsterverse, however.
The Monsterverse has been successful in spite of not having a central steward or vision beyond “big monsters are cool.” While the films build up their monsters by the sheer, outsized force of their presence, the other elements are jettisoned at the whims of the different storytellers. Monarch, for example, feels like a much smaller organization here than it did in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, to the point where a particularly large plot hole develops involving the operation to transport Kong to Hollow Earth. Furthermore, the human drama doesn’t land because compelling characters to structure the films around are killed off in the movies or even outright abandoned between films. A particularly egregious removal of who could have been a legacy character in this film stands out as an example of the lack of foresight the series as a whole is saddled with.
The human stories can be compelling in a Godzilla film, particularly when they are given a history with the character, or are heightened figures themselves. Godzilla vs. Kong largely fails in this regard with the notable exceptions of Brian Tyree Henry and Kaylee Hottle’s characters.
Final Verdict on Godzilla vs. Kong
The film is incredibly fun, and if safety permits, should be taken in on a big screen. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, it feels like it has been a distinct lack of an event film. Godzilla vs. Kong is the perfect film to enjoy in a theater if you can do so safely. It won’t take home any screenwriting awards and has a number of plotholes, but for sheer fun and audacity, it is worth the time. If you have to watch it from home, order a pizza, crack open a couple of beers, and take it in as an event.
Haunted MTL gives Godzilla vs. Kong three and a half Cthulhus.
(3.5 / 5)
Godzilla vs. Kong is currently in theaters and streaming on HBO Max until April 30th.
We’ve reached the final episode of American Horror Stories, season three. After the ups and downs of the season, I didn’t know what to expect. I felt that we were due a big finish, Killer Queens. But I feared we were in for a big letdown.
As it turns out, The Thing Under The Bed was neither.
The story
We begin our story with a little girl named Mary, who is scared of something under her bed. She sneaks out of her room, only to be caught by her father and sent back to sleep. And of course, there is something horrible waiting for her under her bed.
This scene cuts away to a woman named Jillian. She has strange dreams, including one about Mary. But her husband, Mark, doesn’t want to hear about it. He’s only interested in a little lovemaking because he wants a baby. Jillian doesn’t, which makes total sense because she’s already married to one. But her irritation with her childish husband goes away when he goes away. And by goes away, I mean he’s sloppily devoured by something vicious under their bed.
What worked
In short, this episode just worked. The acting was professional and believable. The cinematography and lighting work were wonderful, adding spooky effects and startling moments without impairing visibility.
Best of all, the story was solid. There were no plotholes to be found. Our main character, Jillian, was relatable and sympathetic.
This was maybe my favorite part of the story. I thought Jillian was a remarkably sympathetic character. She was dealt a hand she never asked for, having her husband slaughtered in their bedroom. I don’t think she missed him, so much as she was afraid of the legal ramifications of being caught with literal blood on her hands.
Then, when it would have been safest for her to just lay low and save up for a good defense attorney, she instead goes into unlikely hero mode. She does her best to save people, putting herself in legal and physical danger. It’s hard not to root for her.
It’s also a little hard not to root for the antagonist, too. I don’t want to ruin the twist for you, so I’m going to tread lightly here. But it’s great when you have an antagonist who might be off their rocker, but also maybe has a point.
What didn’t work
I can only really think of one complaint with this episode. And that is how frequently one character says the word Chickadee. And if you’ve seen the episode, you know what I am talking about.
I get it, he has a pet name for his daughter. It’s adorable. It’s meant to convey that the two of them have a healthy loving relationship and I get it. We all get it. Blind monks get it. But the fact remains that no parent on Earth calls their kid by their pet name every single time they speak an individual sentence to them. It was just too damn much.
All in all, this was a good episode. It was a classic story, turned on its head, told by professionals from start to finish. And I hope that if there is another season, we see more stories like this one. But after the efforts put into this season at large, I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the last we see of American Horror Stories.
(4 / 5)
If you’ve watched enough short-form horror anthology shows, you’ll notice that some stories are mainstays. Each show seems to put on the same sort of episodes, with the occasional surprising storyline that we’ve never (or at least rarely) seen before.
Leprechaun was an example of a repeated story—the story of a greedy thief whose punishment far outweighs the crime.
The story
We begin our story in 1841, with a drunk man leaving the bar one late night. He’s distracted by something glowing at the end of the well. When he reaches down for the glowing thing, he falls in. Moments later, he screams.
We then cut to the modern day. The well is still there, and now it’s surrounded by a dying town. In this town lives a young man named Colin. He’s married, his wife is pregnant, and he’s out of work. Like many of his friends.
Desperate for cash, Colin and his friends decide to rob a bank. They put together an Equate version of Ocean’s Eleven, and break in one night. But, of course, they find that the gold is nothing more than bait. And the creature waiting for them is something they never expected.
What worked
The first thing I want to point out is how real this episode felt. At least to anyone currently living in the same small town they grew up in. These characters felt like guys I went to school with. Guys I would see at the bar.
I appreciated the real anger and frustration these characters are feeling. Especially Colin. He’s bitter, and maybe he has a right to be. He did exactly what he was supposed to do to succeed. He went to school and invested in his career, and yet now he’s out of work and struggling to support his family. I probably don’t need to tell you how that feels. Because of this, we can all kind of understand why he was tempted to rob a bank.
I also want to talk about the fact that this was, as I said, an often-explored story. That can be a bad thing, but it can also be a good thing. This story is told over and over because it’s a good story. A relatable story. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
What didn’t work
That being said, this version didn’t try to do much to break out of the mold.
Because we have seen this story so many times, most of us could tell the story themselves. I would have expected something new, or some twist. But, in the end, the story didn’t bring anything new to the discussion.
Maybe because of this, the ending left a lot to be desired. Trapped in the basement of the bank, everyone just sort of stares at everyone else, until the thieves give up. And that’s it. The ending wasn’t scary, shocking, or funny. It was just sad, on multiple levels.
Overall, this was an okay story. It was entertaining, if not surprising. I would compare this episode to homemade macaroni and cheese. Everyone’s got their own version, they’re all pretty good, and none of them are exciting.
There’s just one episode left in this season of American Horror Stories. Let’s hope they’ve saved the best for last.
(3.5 / 5)
It happened. It finally happened. We got another good episode of American Horror Stories.
The story
We begin our story late at night, with a hospital security guard named Malcolm. He is frightened one night when he sees a woman with a distorted face in the hospital parking lot.
We then joined an RN named Claire. She’s doing her best to explain to a struggling mother that the hospital will not be able to treat her son with cancer because she can’t afford the treatment.
Not like she’s happy about it.
Fortunately, Dr. Nostrum, played by the legend Henry Winkler, swoops in at the last moment to tell the mother that her son qualifies for a special place in his cancer treatment clinic.
Claire is lamenting the fact that she became an RN to help people, but it feels like she isn’t doing anything good. Then, she and her friend Lilly stumble upon the same woman who menaced Malcom the night before.
While Claire is trying to figure out what’s wrong with this woman, she brutally slaughters an orderly and vanishes into the hospital. But not before struggling to say two words to Claire. Ward X.
What worked
I want to start by praising the effects of this episode. Because they were fantastic. Aided by the black and white filming, the bloody and distorted faces of Alice and her fellow victims are nightmarish. They look like a horrific version of Lockjaw taken to a terrifying extreme.
I also want to discuss the fantastic work of Henry Winkler. He is an absolute legend and never has a bad project.
Winkler’s character in this episode was exactly what we’d expect from him. He seems genuinely warm and kind, concerned about others’ well-being. Even when he’s planning to kill Claire, he comes off as such a caring guy.
Finally, I want to talk about the historical significance of this story. Because, like I always say, the scariest stories are the ones based on truth. And I’m sorry to say, this story has a basis in truth.
Mankind has a dark and twisted history when it comes to medical advances. Most doctors and scientists are good, moral people who abide by the first line of the Hippocratic oath, to first do no harm. Some, historically, are little more than monsters in white coats. Consider the Tuskegee Experiment, Unit 731, and the horrific acts of Josef Mengele. If you’re going to look up that middle one, be warned that it is NSFL.
While this episode of American Horror Stories was a work of fiction, it wasn’t that far off. I don’t think many of us want to admit how close to real life it was. This is the gift of good horror, to force us to come face to face with the worst aspects of humanity. To acknowledge them, accept them, and change them.
All in all, this was a perfect episode. The acting, the effects and the story were all top-shelf. And it’s certainly a story that will stick with you.
There are just two episodes left in this season of American Horror Stories. Let’s hope that they reach closer to the quality of X, and away from the dull and dismal episodes that began the second half of this season.
(5 / 5)
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