Godzilla vs. Kong is nearly here, and a whole lot of man-made property is just waiting to
be smashed, exploded, toppled, set on fire... or all of the above at once.
The world is waiting with bated breath to see which giant creature emerges on top once
the dust clears — or whether they end up hugging it out and joining forces against
a larger threat.
The monster movie to end all monster movies drops in theaters and on HBO Max on March
31, and if you have a place in your heart for king-size action, you probably have the
date circled in red ink on your calendar. But will it be worth the wait?
The plot of Godzilla vs. Kong isn't completely unknown. For one, we already know why Kong's
become Godzilla-sized since his much-smaller appearance in Kong: Skull Island.
"Kong's the last of his kind, but he's still growing. And you better hope he does. Because
the Iwis say once Kong goes, then the big one comes up."
Reports from a Godzilla vs. Kong set visit and the movie's internet-breaking trailer
have indicated that the face-off between the two titans might very well feature another
threat that's more mechanical in nature: MechaGodzilla, the legendary robotic kaiju that's yet to
make its MonsterVerse debut.
However, whether the movie's actually any good has remained a mystery ... until now.
Though you still have to wait a while until the official reviews drop, the veil of secrecy
has lifted enough that the lucky few who have been able to see the movie in advance are
now allowed to tweet their first impressions.
It looks like fans of King Kong and Godzilla can sleep easy, because the critics' early
impressions indicate that Godzilla vs. Kong is everything you could ever have wanted — and
then some.
Sean O'Connell, the managing director of CinemaBlend, tweeted some extremely positive things about
the movie, while also revealing that some of the action takes place in a Hollow Earth
setting. He wrote,
"I had a total blast with this movie. It gets wonky and weird in all of the places a monster
movie like this should. Some of the human characters actually work. But it's the fights,
and Hollow Earth, that demand a massive screen. Team Kong!"
Sheraz Farooqi of Comic Book Debate confirmed that the movie very much delivers on its premise,
and teased that audiences are in for some seriously amazing action between the two monsters.
He tweeted,
"#GodzillaVsKong is fun, vibrant, action-packed, and energizing. [It] lives up to the heavyweight
match it advertised with amazing visual effects and action sequences. This movie is selling
a spectacle, and that's exactly what audiences will get."
Fandango's managing editor Erik David agreed with that sentiment, and also pointed out
that while big monster action is obviously the draw here, the human cast is also great
and the story aspects hold water. He wrote,
"I've seen #GodzillaVsKong and it is grade-A awesome! The monster brawls are badass & beautiful
— huge fights, all well designed & super gnarly. Solid story, strong cast, really good
score. A true Midnight Monster Movie & my favorite of the four modern Godzilla/Kong
movies."
Of course, Godzilla vs. Kong is no Citizen Kane, and some critics have pointed out that
when you take out the awesome monster action scenes, the rest of the movie can feel somewhat
lacking.
Germain Lussier of Gizmodo and io9 tweeted,
"Godzilla vs. Kong has excellent action and effects. The story is crazy ambitious and
at times achieves some unique sci-fi-coolness. I'd watch it again for that stuff but most
of the human angles are so overstuffed, illogical and pointless, it constantly took me out of
it."
Collider's Vinnie Mancuso enjoyed the movie to the point that he stated,
"I am going to watch this movie every day it is available on HBO Max, turning the volume
on my television up a little bit every time."
However, he noted that things aren't exactly stellar when the story focuses on humans,
saying,
"The human parts are still bafflingly bad, but the parts where one giant monster wallops
the other giant monster in the face are incredibly good."
The same outlet's Perri Nemioff also pointed out the human plot line problem, though she
felt that the talented cast helps with the issue. She wrote,
"Still don't think they've nailed how to incorporate human characters, but the top-notch ensemble
helps."
While some critics seem to find the human-focused bits of the movie underwhelming, it certainly
seems that Godzilla vs. Kong is happy to be what it is: a big, fun, lovingly crafted movie
about the two most famous giant monsters out there duking it out. You'll get the chance
to see how well the movie succeeds in its mission when Godzilla vs. Kong is released
in theaters and on HBO Max on March 31.
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