“Godzilla vs Kong” has finally been released both in theaters and on HBO Max. The film has become one of the biggest hits of 2021 so far, being the most successful release on HBO Max and the third highest grossing film of the year. 

“Godzilla vs Kong” is the fourth film in the MonsterVerse franchise following “Godzilla” (2014), “Kong: Skull Island” and “Godzilla: King of the Monsters.” The film puts Godzilla against Kong, of their respective franchises, into conflict over the title of King of the Titans.

“Godzilla vs Kong” takes place five years after the events of the last film where Godzilla claimed his title of king, after defeating the three-headed alien, Ghidorah. A large majority of the screen time is devoted to Kong and the characters within his story, such as Jia (Kaylee Hottle), Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall) and Dr. Nathan Lind (Alexander Skarsgård). Each of these characters had their roles in aiding Kong in his fight against Godzilla and finding him a new home in Hollow Earth. 

As I said before, a majority of the time is dedicated to Kong, and there is a level of awareness to the audience that he is the protagonist, which makes it all the more upsetting that he loses twice to Godzilla. 

Godzilla’s actions in the film seemed unusual because he was unnecessarily aggressive toward Kong at times. These actions were never fully explained and only seemed to drive the plot forward. The characters within his story included Madison Russell (Millie Bobby Brown), Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry) and Josh Valentine (Julian Dennison) as they uncover a secret project to eliminate Titans through the use of Mechagodzilla. 

Overall, the subplot of Mechagodzilla and the human trio investigating it also seemed unnecessary and rushed. There were times that my eyes rolled when these characters were on screen. It also seems that every “vs” movie has some sort of third party that the two titular characters have to team up against, such as “Batman v. Superman”. 

However, the film was an overall good movie and arguably one of the best in the MonsterVerse franchise. The film seems to tell the audience to ignore all logic and enjoy these two iconic, giant monsters fighting it out. It will be interesting to see where the franchise goes from here. There have been rumors of possible sequels, but nothing definite yet, as all the films before have led to this one. 

Did you like “Godzilla vs Kong”? Let us know in the comments below.