 Grade: B+ Directed By: Adam Wingard Release Date: March 31, 2021 Starring: King Kong, Godzilla, Millie Bobby Brown, Alexander Skarsgard Five years have passed since the events of Godzilla: King of the Monsters and the rise of the Titans, and in that time, the world has changed quite a bit. The corporation Apex Cybernetics, guided by CEO Walter Simmons (Demian Bichir), has confirmed the existence of Hollow Earth, a vast ecosystem deep within the planet's core that was once the Titans' original home. After Godzilla unexpectedly decimates an Apex facility in Florida, breaking an extended period of relative peace in which he has remained unseen and left the world alone, Simmons approaches Nathan Lind (Alexander Skarsgard) to lead an expedition to Hollow Earth in the hopes of discovering a power source that can help save humanity.
To do so, however, they will need a Titan to lead them there, and so Lind turns to Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall), a member of Monarch stationed on Skull Island, for help. Due to the storm that once surrounded the island having overtaken the landmass completely, Kong has been protected within a special dome constructed by Monarch, the colossal ape building a connection to Andrews' adoptive daughter and last remaining Skull Island resident Jia (Kaylee Hottle) while off the radar from Godzilla, whose natural instinct to battle another Alpha would inevitably lead him to seek out and fight Kong, the only other Alpha Titan in existence. Though reluctant, Andrews allows Kong to be used to find Hollow Earth, starting a countdown to an inevitable clash between the two Titans, though there may be something more sinister going on than she, Lind, or anyone else could imagine. Godzilla vs. Kong is the fourth film in Legendary Pictures' MonsterVerse, following 2014's Godzilla, 2017's Kong: Skull Island, and 2019's Godzilla: King of the Monsters, the big event that fans have been waiting for since it was announced back in 2015. This isn't the first time these two icons have shared the screen – 1962's King Kong vs. Godzilla did it first – but director Adam Wingard's new monster mash certainly carries with it a whole heap of expectations than those of those from audiences sixty years ago now that both characters have decades of history under their belts and legions of fans across the world eager to see these characters clash in an era of staggering special effects. To that end, from a purely visual standpoint, Godzilla vs. Kong does not disappoint. If all you're looking forward to is the idea of seeing the two titular Titans tango, the scenes in which they do are exhilarating and rewarding, and a show-stopping nighttime battle in the neon-lit city of Hong Kong alone is worth the price of admission. And for anyone worried, this isn't a slap fight where the end result is just a stalemate. When all is said and done, there is a pretty clear victor between the two, though fans of the "loser" likely still won't fret, as the film takes strides to do that character justice and ultimately close on a note where both icons get the respect they deserve as fighters.
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