{"id":22457,"date":"2021-03-30T21:35:05","date_gmt":"2021-03-31T04:35:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=22457"},"modified":"2021-03-30T21:35:05","modified_gmt":"2021-03-31T04:35:05","slug":"godzilla-vs-kong-brings-two-behemoths-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=22457","title":{"rendered":"GODZILLA VS. KONG Brings Two Behemoths Together"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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This feature is playing at open cinemas and is also available\nto streaming on HBO Max. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has been 67 years since the gargantuan green lizard made\nhis debut on the big screen and 88 years for the massive ape. In the decades\nsince, there have been dozens of sequels and reinventions of these characters, some\nof which have been better than others. The latest is Godzilla vs. Kong<\/em>, which\nattempts to combine the icons in its recent series of giant monster movies. This\nis a silly flick with creatures that are more relatable and interesting than\nthe humans following them around. However, if your primary reason for watching is\nto see the two giant behemoths go head-to-head, you will get an enjoyably\nover-the-top and mayhem-filled climax. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After events of 2019\u2019s Godzilla: King of the Monsters<\/em>,\nthe two monsters are being kept apart to maintain peace and prevent a swath of destruction.\nWhen Godzilla appears unexpectedly and attacks the Apex Cybernetics factory run\nby Walter Simmons (Demi\u00e1n Bichir), the world fears that the giant lizard has turned\nevil. The CEO decides to fund the research of geologist Nathan Lind (Alexander Skarsg\u00e5rd)\nand test his \u201cHollow Earth\u201d theory. It contends that there is an incredible power\nsource at the center of the planet that could stop the monster. To get there,\nthey need the assistance of the giant ape Kong, now under the care of Dr. Ilene\nAndrews (Rebecca Hall) and her daughter Jia (Kaylee Hottle). As they begin the\njourney, teenage Godzilla authority Madison Russell (Millie Bobby Brown) and her\nfriend Josh (Julian Dennison) team with conspiracy theorist podcaster Bernie (Brian\nTyree Henry) to find the true reason behind the Godzilla\u2019s violent turn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In truth, this is more of a Kong movie than a Godzilla film,\nwith the primary focus on the primate and the team\u2019s attempt to reach the\ncenter of the Earth. Godzilla really is a secondary character here who only\nshows up to engage in fighting. In addition to the misleading title, the screenplay\nhas its fair share of issues. Those familiar with the original Toho franchise\nwill immediately be able to predict the story\u2019s ultimate plot twist. It also\nsuffers from clunky and awkward dialogue. One feels very sorry for the cast,  who are often forced to literally explain\ntheir own actions when they perform tasks. And when they attempt to detail the \u201cscience\u201d\nbehind monster behavior or the hypothesize about the \u201cHollow Earth\u201d, it couldn\u2019t\nbe more leaden. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Of course, it\u2019s difficult for a movie like this not to be absurd,\nespecially given the exaggerated nature of what is occurring. The characters\noccasionally crack wise about the situation and a couple of their observations are\namusing. Yet it\u2019s hard to say whether some of the funniest elements are on\npurpose or unintentional. This includes the remarkably lax security at the secretive\nhigh-tech Apex factory as the young heroes try to sneak in, or Dr. Andrews panicking\nabout the safety of her daughter while continually putting her in harm\u2019s way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m going to assume that the movie is aware of its shortcomings\nand that the stilted yammering is to be chuckled at as the feature races towards\nits epic finale. The monster material looks CGI-heavy, but at least the\nconflicts themselves are energetically rendered. And there are some original visual\nflourishes and creative ideas injected into the proceedings. There\u2019s a fun skirmish\nat sea that involves Kong trying to stay on stable ground by jumping from ship\nto ship. During a later exchange when the giants trade blows, the camera will\nhold on a monster\u2019s head as its body is thrown into buildings. Admittedly, the\nclimax is a blast to witness and does provide the necessary cheesy thrills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Overall, this title is better than the film that preceded it, even if it does have plenty of notable defects. The human characters are given little to do other than deliver lengthy doses of exposition and behave irrationally, but the film\u2019s main selling point does provide entertaining action for fans of giant monster movies. Godzilla vs. Kong<\/em> isn\u2019t a fight for the ages, but when its focuses on its unusual stars, the flick does manage to land a few blows. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This feature is playing at open cinemas and is also available to streaming on HBO Max. It has been 67 years since the gargantuan green lizard made his debut on the big screen and 88 years for the massive ape. In the decades since, there have been dozens of sequels and reinventions of these characters, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":22458,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[206,697,998,3508,5670,8297,8300,8429,8436,8437,8438,8439,11141,11529,11776,11874,13974,14197,16760,17775,18035,18055,22981,23991],"class_list":["post-22457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-206","tag-action","tag-alexander-skarsgard","tag-brian-tyree-henry","tag-demian-bichir","tag-giant","tag-giant-monster","tag-godzilla","tag-godzilla-vs-kong","tag-godzilla-vs-kong-film-review","tag-godzilla-vs-kong-movie-review","tag-godzilla-vs-kong-review","tag-julian-dennison","tag-kaylee-hottle","tag-king-kong","tag-kong","tag-millie-bobby-brown","tag-monster-movie","tag-rebecca-hall","tag-science-fiction","tag-sequel","tag-series","tag-toho","tag-warner-brothers"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22457\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}