“Godzilla vs. Kong” is the most recent addition to the “Monsterverse” that pits the infamous monsters Godzilla and King Kong against one another. “Godzilla vs. Kong” stars Alexander Skarsgård as Nathan Lind, Millie Bobby Brown as Madison Russell, Rebecca Hall as Ilene Andrews and Brian Tyree Henry as Bernie Hayes. 

“Godzilla vs. Kong” opens on Skull Island inside the containment facility for King Kong, one of two remaining Titans. We are introduced to Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall), the woman known as “The Kong Whisperer.” Because Andrews is the head caretaker of Kong, she is contacted by Nathan Lind (Alexander Skarsgård), who wants to use Kong to explore the Earth’s core, which he believes is hollow. The only entrance is in Antarctica, so Andrews and Lind must overcome the challenge of transporting Kong from Skull Island to Antarctica. During this journey, Kong encounters the only other Titan, Godzilla, for the first time in this movie. After a brutal fight, Kong is left injured. However, we find out that Jia (Kaylee Hottle), Skull Island native and adopted daughter of Ilene Andrews, is able to communicate with Kong via sign language. 

Once they reach Antarctica, Kong enters the hollow core of the Earth, followed by Andrews, Lind and Jia. Kong finds an ancient temple built by Kong’s ancestors and finds an axe inside. Meanwhile, Godzilla is making his way to Hong Kong. Godzilla senses the radiation from the axe in Earth’s core and fires his laser at it, creating a massive hole. Although it misses Kong and the axe, Kong jumps into the hole and lands in Hong Kong, setting up the final battle between the two rival Titans. 

Let’s get the obvious part out of the way – the special effects in this movie are insane. I would expect nothing less than that from a movie with a budget of $160 million. Even going into the movie expecting fantastic CGI, I was still impressed by it. “Godzilla vs. Kong” completely blew me out of the water. Both Titans were extremely detailed, all of the lasers and crazy futuristic technology were stunning, and I especially liked the downtown areas featured in the movie. Since most fights took place at night, it really shined a spotlight on the beautiful scenery in the background. 

*Major spoiler in this paragraph, skip to next paragraph to avoid spoilers*

That being said, this movie was a little disappointing at times. I felt like a lot of things happened purely because they are convenient for the plot, not because of any actual reason. For example, near the end of the movie, it is revealed that a robot version of Godzilla has been built. After using a new power source, the robot goes haywire and can no longer be controlled by its pilot. There is no reason given for this, it just happens. Another example of this phenomenon is whenever Godzilla beats Kong in a fight, he has numerous opportunities to end the fighting for good and kill Kong. However, he simply doesn’t. Godzilla would just retreat back to the ocean for no apparent reason. 

Another observation I made during the movie was that there are very few memorable characters. I found myself not caring about what happens to many of the characters; I was only attached to Kong and Jia. This really shouldn’t be a problem for a movie this big. With a major studio like Warner Bros. assisting the creation of this movie, there is no excuse for the movie to have forgettable characters.

In the end, I did really enjoy this movie. Although the plot wasn’t great and the characters were forgettable, I was drawn to “Godzilla vs. Kong” for the fight scenes, and they were fantastic. I would recommend this movie to anyone looking for a simple movie full of fight scenes. However, die-hard fans looking into the movie for the plot, I can’t say this movie is for you.