Godzilla vs Kong Movie Review

Hey guys, Hannah here with The Film Magic. Today I'm going to be talking about the showdown of the century that everyone has been waiting for, you guessed it, Godzilla vs. Kong. But before we get started, don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more movie content. Godzilla vs. Kong is the highly anticipated finale to the MonsterVerse series and let me tell you, it does not disappoint. This is pretty much just two thrilling hours of epic monster smackdown gore. You know, I was honestly pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this film. I'm not really typically into the whole MonsterVerse, but if I wasn't on board with that trope before now, I definitely am after watching this film. This movie is extremely well-paced, which I really appreciated. It's just under two hours and honestly, it's pure fun and excitement to watch the entire time. I mean, the matchups between Godzilla vs. Kong are honestly nothing short of completely epic, especially the one in the third act, in the finale. And I'm not just talking epic, I'm talking like, out of your seats, yelling at the screen, insane. This is one of those movies that I feel like you really want to go see it in theaters. I unfortunately didn't get to go see it in theaters. I watched it on HBO Max at home and while it was still amazing in that format, I still feel like I didn't really get the whole experience. You know, I would have loved to see this film in 3D or IMAX. This movie is pretty straightforward. The first act is really a lot of exposition that kind of explains the Hollow Earth and why what's going on is going on. Obviously, I'm not going to get into a ton of detail here because I don't want to give spoilers away, but I will say that the first act really builds a lot of anticipation with a lot of foreshadowing that gets you really excited for these matchups between Godzilla and Kong. I will say that there were a few plot points that I was a little confused on and I wish I would have had a little bit more explanation, but other than that, it's pretty easy to follow throughout. The cast in this film give wonderful performances. It's really an all-around, extremely talented group. I particularly enjoyed the performances from Alexander Skarsgard, Rebecca Hall, and newcomer on the scene, Kaylee Hoddle. Kaylee Hoddle gave an extremely impressive performance. I'd say that she's really the breakout star of this film. She plays the young deaf girl who is best friends with Kong, and Hoddle actually, in real life, is actually a deaf actress, and I think that really adds to the authenticity of the film, and I think it's amazing that they went a step further and actually casted someone who is deaf. I will say that I think that relationship between Gia, who Hoddle plays, and Kong is one of my favorite parts of the film aside from the big fight scenes because I think that's where the film really gets its heart and its humanity, and it really kind of, I think, speaks to the viewers on a more emotional level. Moving on to kind of cover some of the technical elements of the film, I have to say that I think the score was an amazing addition to this film. It really amps up the excitement and kind of gets your adrenaline pumping, especially when Godzilla shows up on the scene. The score was actually composed by Junkie XL, who also composed the score for Snyder's Justice League. As a little side note, if you haven't seen our review of Snyder's Justice League, make sure to go check that out on our channel. Speaking of technical elements, I have to give credit where credit is due and say that the effects are truly the star of this movie. I mean, we might expect that given that, you know, the two headlining characters are completely CGI, but I don't think I've ever seen a movie that relies so heavily on CGI and special effects where the characters look so believable. Obviously, they're not realistic. They're fake monsters, but they're believable and they never come across as cheesy or overdone. The way they move is almost human and they have these facial expressions that are so expressive. There's this part where Kong is communicating with Gia and, you know, while they're communicating, obviously, without words, we can literally see in his eyes his emotion and what he's thinking, and I think that just speaks to the amazing technical detail that went into creating these larger-than-life characters. You know, I don't think I've ever seen a film where I can say that I saw an award-worthy performance from a CGI character. You know, the director of this film, Adam Wingard, is actually, he's been on record saying that the way that Kong moves and his physicality and the way he runs and moves through space is actually based on two human characters that I'm sure we're all pretty familiar with. He's partly based on Bruce Willis in Die Hard and Mel Gibson in the Lethal Weapon series, which I think, you know, that's another detail that shows the painstaking care and attention that went into creating these characters that we were going to be watching for two hours. You know, I don't think we've seen a ton of blockbuster films this year just because of, you know, release delays due to COVID-19, and of the few that I have seen, I'd have to say that Godzilla vs. Kong is definitely one of the most fun and exciting and truly enjoyable films that I've been able to watch this year. That makes me really excited and hopeful for the future of the big studio blockbuster. Godzilla vs. Kong is now out in everywhere and it's also streaming on HBO Max. That's all I have for y'all today. I hope you enjoyed this review. Don't forget to give me a comment below letting me know your thoughts. See y'all next time. Bye!