Movie review: 'Godzilla vs. Kong' is a big screen must-watch

“There can only be one titan,” said Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall) as we stepped into the world of alphas at Reel Cinemas, The Dubai Mall, on March 24. The trailer for Godzilla vs. Kong promised a “battle of the ages” between the two, and the movie held up to that promise.

The fourth installment in Legendary’s MonsterVerse series, Godzilla vs. Kong takes place five years after the events of Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), which took place in 2019 and 51 years after Kong: Skull Island (2017), which took place in 1973.

The plot follows Kong, who has grown enough (more than 300 feet) to take on his counterpart, becoming weary of his artificial home provided by Monarch, the agency handling the affairs of such alphas on Earth. The next thing we know, Kong is being transported to another place which he can call home, by a team led by geologist Nathan Lind (Alexander Skarsgård), but we can simply predict where that leads.

Godzilla, on the other hand, is provoked by other sub-plots in the movie, which I cannot reveal, of course. Known for his side-switching in other Zilla movies by Toho Studios, the king of the monsters is perceived as a desperado, almost until the end of the film.

The human cast in this film, Hall, Skarsgård’s, Julian Dennison among others, and the returning characters of Millie Bobby Brown and Kyle Chandler, did little to shape the plot. However, Jia (Kaylee Hottle), a young Iwi orphan girl who forms a special bond with Kong, and Walter Simmons (Demián Bichir), the CEO of Apex, an organization delving into the planet’s “alpha problems”, add more to the plot than meets the eye.

Director Adam Wingard, who accomplished his childhood dream of setting the two alphas against one another, has served up a blockbuster experience for the audience. The CGI (computer-generated imagery) did every bit of justice to the clashes between the two alphas. A no-holds-barred contest between two kings on land and sea is a visual treat for everyone who seeks big-screen action, especially the final showdown which was explosive. While the previous installments lacked either an immersive initial or final showdown, Godzilla vs. Kong goes all out at all stages.