SCIFIHISTORY.NET
  • MAINPAGE
  • About
  • Reviews
  • December
  • November
  • October
  • September
  • August
  • July
  • June
  • May
  • April
  • March
  • February
  • January

Stardate 05.24.2021.A: Devolution Of The Species - Some Quick Thoughts On Godzilla Vs Kong

5/24/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
At my ripe old age, I've learned that there are some arguments I simply stay out of ... and that was mostly the reason why I didn't write up a full review on Godzilla Vs. Kong (2021).

Like so many, I watched it in the comfort of my own home compliments of HBO Max.  While it would've been grand to see all of its pretty visuals up on the silver screen, I just didn't all that compelled at the time; there were other features -- less blustery, less boisterous, more character-driven -- that drew my interest.  Consequently, I passed on seeing it at the multiplexes.

Because I was asked recently, I thought I'd pen a really quick thought on the movie to summarize my thoughts on it, and it essentially boils down to a single idea: Godzilla Vs. Kong illustrates the devolution of the species for this franchise so far as I'm concerned.

Godzilla (2014), Kong: Skull Island (2017), and Godzilla: King Of The Monsters (2019) preceded this big budget showdown (for those who were unawares), and each of them kinda/sorta notched a little bit less artistic storytelling along the way.  The Godzilla reboot I found to be the highwater mark, trying to in many ways emulate the ideas of the original Godzilla by pitting the big beast as much against man as much as it was against a few of the lesser Titans.  Then, starting with Kong: Skull Island and progressing to King Of The Monsters, the films grew less relevant and more pre-packaged, highlighting the hyper-quick and slick pace filmmakers felt necessary to assault the senses of the audience.  With Godzilla Vs. Kong, the franchise pretty much de-evolved to the point wherein the feature embraced the formula of any run-of-the-mill summer blockbuster: make it big, dumb, fun, and loud, insuring the biggest bang for the biggest buck.  Insert any big lumbering monster into the formula (i.e. Pacific Rim, Rampage, Emma Stone, etc.) and you'll get the same result.

When the script lacks the smarts to differentiate itself from anything else the Hollywood mill churns out, the audience inevitably loses, though the box office may win.  I've long maintained that all I want from a great Superman film is to watch big blue beat the snot out of some giant-sized man-eating robots; yet that doesn't mean I'll forfeit other messaging and/or nuances that go hand-in-hand with quality storytelling.  Godzilla Vs. Kong's plot felt like it could picked up and inserted into any giant monster movie, and that was a huge (if not giant) miss.  Audiences want to connect with the monster -- it's the spine of any monster movie -- but this one just felt bland.  It had moments, just not enough to distinguish it from the routine.

Sadly, the showdown really brought nothing new to the arena of storytelling, though the shiny MechaGodzilla help until the final act was a nice touch.  The human characters added absolutely nothing new, essentially clearing the way for the world's biggest UFC showdown ever.  In that respect, I suppose it delivered exactly what it promised -- bruises, blows, and bang-ups like never before seen.  But subtlety?  Grace?  Poise?  Meh.  Methinks the storytellers thought those ideas were overrated.

I didn't dislike the film.  Though it's fair to say I never had a dog in the fight, I'll admit I've always cheered more for Godzilla than I did Kong.  This match-up was no different.  How can brawn ever defeat pure reptillian mass augmented with those radiation-powered bleches?  It was truly no contest, if you ask me, but I've read that most folks favored Kong anyway so it's probably best I kept my mouth shut.

Besides, the big budget extravaganza just didn't seem like it had enough story for me to respond to.  Regular readers in this space know what I've said many times about conflict: there needs to be something meaty at the heart of a film in order for me to attach myself to it intellectually enough to figure out something to say about it.  I'd read a lot of what's out there on the web, and, frankly, I couldn't figure out anything worthy to add.  Some tales just hit me that way; as a consequence, I end up letting others do their worst and keep my brain power for other exercises.

In any event, the film is worth a view.  Unlike the other three, though, I've absolutely no desire to rewatch it, nor will I most likely.  It's an entertaining bout for a one-off film; and that's all I have to say about that.

As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!

-- EZ
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Reviews
    ​Archive
    ​

    Reviews

    birthdays
    Archive
    ​

    January
    February
    March
    April
    May
    June
    July
    August
    September
    October
    November
    December

    mainpage
    ​ posts

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly