Reviews

‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ Review

The greatest gladiator match in the history of the world. The King of the jungle vs the Ruler of the seas. Fight night. Let me tell you, it lived up to the hype. Godzilla vs Kong is good old fashion fun.

Godzilla vs Kong Box Office Opening Day Breaks Pandemic Records – /Film The epic next chapter in the cinematic Monsterverse pits two of the greatest icons in motion picture history against one another – the fearsome Godzilla and the mighty Kong – with humanity caught in the balance.

When people ask me why I love going to the movies so much, it for movies like Godzilla vs Kong, it’s why we go to the movies. Movies like this should be experienced on the biggest screen possible, with the volume so high it almost hurts your ears. I’m so happy I got to watch this in IMAX, the first movie I have been able to watch in a theatre since July and only the second movie I have seen since the pandemic began. I was like a kid on Christmas watching two of the meanest and biggest monsters this world has to offer throw down.

We revisit the Monster-Verse that start all the way back in 2014 when the first Godzilla came out and things have grown immensely since. Here we are almost a decade later and the fate of the world is being decided by the biggest showdown we have ever seen. Two titans and rightful rulers in their own minds. Have decided it’s time to settle this debate of who is the alpha dog once and for all. When you walk into a movie that is titled Godzilla vs Kong, well, you want it to live up to its name and the movie does just that. The movie wants you no matter the age to feel like a kid again, we all did it, smash our action figures together, pretending it was the biggest battle of all time. Now we are seeing it play out in real-time. Because when the action hits, it’s just simply breathtaking. I can’t stress enough how gorgeous the fight sequences were. The use of color, the surrounding landscape, the fight choreography which was the biggest boost from previous movies, makes it all so enjoyable. We are talking about a massive jump in quality between the fights in King of The Monsters and this, it was blowing my mind. Director Adam Wingard knows what we want to see. The fights are clean and crisp, you can tell exactly what is going on and the use of POV shots and the immense power during some sequences is the best of that stature since Pacific Rim. The last 20 mins are some of the best-looking movie footage I have ever seen on the big screen and I can’t even imagine what movies are going to look like in 10 years.

Like always, the biggest flaws of these movies are the none essential human characters. These movies always have them and it’s what grinds the fans gears the most. It’s difficult at least right now to have a movie of this size and proportion without the help of some human interactions and plot. I think they are okay and don’t weigh the movie down too much, but again, the problem isn’t the human characters, is just there are always 3 or 4 too many of them. Kyle Chandler and Millie Bobby Brown return as the heads of Team Godzilla, while they had Bryan Tyree Henry and Julian Dennison to their roster. I’ll focus on their team because right away, I love Kyle Chandler but he’s so underused to the point he didn’t need to be in the movie. He adds nothing and it’s just a prime example of screen time wasted on one human character where we want more Kong or Godzilla. Now for Team Kong, we get an all-new team of Alexander Skarsgard, Rebecca Hall, and the stand-out of the human side of things Kaylee Hottle. She plays Jia a deaf survivor of the Skull Island tribe who is Kong’s friend and communicator. I didn’t even mention any of the evil humans that round out the cast, Eiza Gonzalez, Shun Oguri, and Demain Bichir who all felt a little too cartoonish. Eiza Gonzalez who I love is another character we could have done without. Is the plot a tad silly? Of course it is, but it’s a movie about a giant monkey and a giant lizard kicking the living shit out of each other, what do you expect?

When you have a movie with a versus in the title that usually means one shall reign supreme. Would I say there is a winner here? Yes. But I would also say that gets tossed out the window about 5 mins later. Remember there is another monster lurking in the shadows awaiting both of our titans. Where the Monster-Verse goes from here remains unclear, but I think this was a jolt of lightning the franchise needed because this thing even with the pandemic going on is going to be a success.

Overall, Godzilla vs Kong is all the hoopla you would want from such a movie. It’s big, it’s loud, it’s fun and most of all it looks beautiful. Clearly, some changes might have been made after King of The Monsters, but Adam Wingard really encompassed what makes both of these characters special. Pays respect to the past while embracing the future.

Just remember Kong bows to no one.

Godzilla vs Kong = 87/100

Reviews

Looking Back At ‘Godzilla’

With Godzilla vs. Kong releasing, let’s travel back to the movie that kicked off this Monster-Verse, with the almighty Godzilla.

The world is beset by the appearance of monstrous creatures, but one of them may be the only one who can save humanity.

Remember a time when Godzilla just wasn’t part of our lives? At least not here in North America, going 16 years without a major Godzilla movie to hit theatres. Times had changed. This wasn’t the 90’s and the last time this iconic monster was on screen, let’s just say, it was quite forgettable. In fact, the Roland Emmerich take on Godzilla was flat-out embarrassing. The world needed a new and fresh take that felt a little more this century.

In comes Gareth Edwards who knew a thing or two about making a monster movie. Not only was he bringing in one of the biggest monsters this world has ever seen but coming along for the ride was at that time, the biggest thing on TV – Bryan Cranston. I remember it like it was yesterday, Bryan Cranston screaming “it’s going to bring us back to the Stone Age!” During the first teaser trailer for the film. The marketing was off to a flying start because we thought it was going to be Walter White vs. Godzilla. We all know that’s not what we ended up getting but none the less seeing Cranston in this movie was incredible to see, just wish he would have become a major player in this Monster-Verse.

Instead, we got the Maximoff twins. Aaron Tyler-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen headlined this movie and for me, they have been some of the best human characters this universe has had to offer. Johnson’s stoic performance where he was a soldier who happened to be a jack of all trades – is another character you wish you saw again. Taking part in the “halo jump” sequence which is to this day arguably the best scene this franchise has to offer.

Gareth Edwards takes a play out of Steven Spielberg’s playbook by teasing us for the majority of the film with the creatures. Much like Jaws, it isn’t until the end where we finally get to see Godzilla in all of his glory and the suspense and build-up works so well in Edwards’s favor. He is a sight to behold and it wouldn’t be right to introduce us to him so early in the film. Because once the film gets going and especially in the third act, when the violence starts – it hits hard. I’ll never forget that noise, you know, the sound of Godzilla building up is legendary Atomic Breath. Watching him shoot that into the MUTO’s mouth is something every movie fan will never forget, what a moment!

Unlike the next installment, this doesn’t feel so bogged down by the character development because it felt so needed. Like I mentioned it takes a while for us to even see Godzilla, this isn’t the sequel where that mystique and suspense is still lingering. They seem essential to the plot and at this time they are unsure if Godzilla is friend or foe. I really liked Tyler-Johnson and Olsen in their roles, I know some people will disagree but they just felt so grounded, with King of The Monsters everyone felt like a comic-book character. Speaking in one-liners and just being either disposable or filling their cliche role.

Overall, I think Godzilla reminded us what we can have with these types of movies and where the genre was going. Pacific Rim, Kong: Skull Island and King of The Monsters really show just how great these movies can look. It’s difficult to put it all together. The special effects are something to behold and I’m excited to see how Godzilla vs Kong expands this universe and how Adam Wingard will bring his own sense of style to this franchise. Godzilla remains a great larger-than-life monster movie filled with good performances and some unforgettable movie-going moments.

Godzilla = 84/100

Reviews

Looking Back At ‘Godzilla: King of The Monsters’ Review

My most anticipated turned into my most hated movie of that year.

The crypto-zoological agency Monarch faces off against a battery of god-sized monsters, including the mighty Godzilla, who collided with Mothra, Rodan, and King Ghidorah.


Talk about your all-time letdown. I had this number one on my most anticipated list, and quite frankly it wasn’t even close. When the first trailer dropped for Michael Dougherty’s follow-up to the 2014 Godzilla my breath was taken away. It was one of the most beautiful movie trailers I’d ever seen. The mixture of gorgeous visuals and scored by the emotional Clair De Lune, I couldn’t get enough of it. I couldn’t believe that we were finally going to get the Godzilla film I’ve always wanted. Hard-hitting action, incredible actors, and larger-than-life Monsters, that would make Guillermo Del Toro proud. By the looks of the trailer, the Titans as they are called would come to life in ways we couldn’t even imagine, and they all looked so flawless in design. Everything leading up to it, the marketing, the trailers, the images, made me believe this would be truly special. In fact, I love monster movies so much, this had the potential to be one of my favorite monster movies of all time. After about an hour, I knew we had a complete disaster on our hands. Everything good that happens in this movie, lasts for no longer than 15 seconds. Whether that’s some incredible visuals or action. It just doesn’t last and is immediately drowned out by one of our incessant human characters.

Looking back, there are so many similarities between BvS and Godzilla, the religious mythos, larger-than-life icons finally coming together on the big screen, both bloated with too much plot. I can see parallels everywhere between them. But I have recently come around to BVS and appreciate it so much more than when it first hit theatres. I can’t quite put my finger on what went wrong with this movie for me. Maybe it was all the human characters or just something about how the monsters looked? Don’t get me wrong, the monsters look incredible but at times I just found them to be a little too cartoonish. The battles are great when the times come, but I wanted maybe a little more darker tone from them? Perhaps they just made them almost likable when they should have been terrifying creatures that were wreaking havoc on the entire planet.

This is the co-main event for the biggest thrown down this world has ever seen. Pitting Godzilla vs King Kong and I just felt like this was a major disappointment. No doubt they have nailed down Godzilla since they reintroduced him in 2014 and he is not the problem with this film. Bogged down by a handful of human characters you never fully get invested in which always is the problem with these big monster movies. I always look at Aliens as the prime example of who did it best. You have a large team of characters and simply kill 90 percent of them off leaving us with the ones we truly care about. Even seeing this on the biggest screen I could find, I just never felt satisfied.

I think the biggest problem I had was my expectations were so high, because of how well they marketed the movie. Releasing two of the best trailers of the last 5 years, I couldn’t help feel that this movie was going to blow me away. Maybe that’s my fault for having higher than high expectations, but at the end of the day, that was just the tip of the iceberg.

Even on future rewatches, one being very recently, this movie just kind of pains me. Now, I couldn’t be more excited for what’s to come in this monster-verse and I can’t wait to see where they go. It’s just a bloated, nonsensical blockbuster, that didn’t have to be. You can have a move like this and have it make sense and be somewhat plot-driven, but at the end of the day, it was just loud and over-stuffed beyond belief. It was a sad day for this movie fan when I walked out of the theatre that day.

I’ll be heading back to where it all started with Godzilla, with a review tomorrow!

Godzilla: King of The Monsters = 60/100

News

Epic ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ Trailer Drops

For the love of God, we need movie theatres open so I can see this on the biggest screen humanly possible.

The epic next chapter in the cinematic Monsterverse pits two of the greatest icons in motion picture history against one another – the fearsome Godzilla and the mighty Kong – with humanity caught in the balance.

It’s about to go down. The biggest throw down until Jake Paul and Connor McGregor. King Kong and Godzilla are finally going to face off against each other, mono-e-mono. The Monsterverse has been expanding since Godzilla came out in 2014 and now it’s time for these two titans to finally meet.

Two of the most iconic monsters to ever be put onto the big screen are sharing a movie together, to finally see who is the true ruler of Earth. Until something even bigger comes along I assume and they ultimately have to team up to conquer evil, but in the mean time, these two are going to kick the living shit out of each other and I’m here for it.

The trailer is impressive in stature and size and looks like Kong really grew up since the last time we saw him in Kong: Skull Island. Now a fully grown ape, he has no problem handling Godzilla and this could be anyones fight. For a movie with these two beasts they won’t be alone in the star power. Millie Bobby Brown and Kyle Chandler are returning, but Alexander Skargards, Brian Tyree Henry, Eiza Gonzalez and Rebecca Hall are all joining in on the fun. It looks like we have a Team Kong camp and a Team Godzilla camp. All coming together to put an end to this madness and hopefully save the world along the way.

This is a movie that’s meant to be seen on the biggest screen possible, with the biggest popcorn and drink you can buy.

Only one question remains. Are you Team Kong or Team Godzilla?

Me.

I’m undecided at this very moment.

News

New ‘Godzilla: King of The Monsters’ Trailer

And this is exactly why we go to the movies.

Yes. That’s an actual shot from the actual trailer that will actually be in the actual movie. Mouth full ain’t it? Sweet lord, what a follow up to the best trailer of 2018. The hype is certainly real with the next installment into the Godzilla franchise. I was waiting all week for this puppy to drop and let me tell you something, it didn’t disappoint. After the release of the first trailer I knew it would be hard to top it. After watching this new one about 20 times already, I can safely say that it’s a tie! I feel like the music from the first one elevated the trailer so much, that it could have been a man watching paint dry and I still would have found it beautiful. But the actual footage in the newest trailer is so damn good, this is now my most anticipated movie of 2019.

Once again they really don’t need to show much in order to have people awe struck. It’s very very large monsters literally kick the shit out of one another. I will have your largest popcorn and soda pop please and thank you. For something that is so incredibly vast in scale, these monsters or titans as the trailer is putting it, looks rather breath-taking if you ask me. It’s so clean and cut and you can actually tell what the hell is going on. I don’t know how they pull this off or even begin to create something like this. All the monsters look so glorious and the King himself Godzilla is a forefront and he looks awesome.

Just an insane cast of stellar actors and actresses, that this promises to be one of the best films of 2019 (hopefully). Everything up to this point is pointing in the direction of this being a home run, and we haven’t even really seen all that much. Just imagine when King Kong shows up. God I love movies.

https://youtu.be/B12REtkl2KY

News

‘Godzilla: King of The Monsters’ Trailer

This is the best movie trailer in a very long time

Saved the best for last


So the world is ending and our only hope is Godzilla. 2014’s Godzilla reboot turned a lot of heads, and rightfully so. Everyone loves Godzilla, he’s awesome, he’s big, he’s mean and he’s ready to mess shit up.

Awake from his slumber, it looks like he might even have a tag team buddy in this next instalment. The breathtakingly beautiful Mothra will be fighting side by side with Godzilla. He’s going to need all the help he can get, because Rodan and King Ghidorah are coming and they are going to bring the pain. There’s a deep roster of CGI monsters and not only that a great cast to boot.

The dark, apocalyptic nuance that this trailer brings is stunning to look at. The visuals in this trailer are some of the best I’ve ever seen. The monster aesthetic is a treat to look at. I’m not even sure how the world is going to survive this one.

But a cast of Millie Bobbie Brown, O’Shea Jackson, Kyle Chandler, Vera Fermiga and Charles Dance are looking to come together to stop the world from ending. We have a family dynamic storyline happening, and Ken Wantabe and Sally Hawkins are back. Hopefully with more to do than simply say “let them fight.”

A packed cast full of monsters and actors. Incredible visuals and the king of all monsters, I don’t think this one is going to disappoint.

Oh yeah, King Kong might even show up. So we have that to look forward to.