So this was a preview last week when my discerning 8yo cinephile in training and I were watching surely next years Oscar forerunner Kung Fu Panda 4. Apparently it is a sequel (aside from just Godzilla and Kong lore) and maybe if I’d seen the ‘first’ movie it would have made more sense. But plot aside good kiaju movie. Wanna watch a bunch of giants beat the shit out of each other even if you don’t know why, worthwhile.
Ideally you should see all the "monsterverse" stuff - there's not just one previous movie. Godzilla Kong: Skull Island - a good movie beyond just being a good monster movie Godzilla: King of the Monsters Godzilla v. Kong (the direct predecessor) There's also an animated Skull Island show that's good but nothing that's really stongly tied to the movie throughline and the Monarch TV series which fills in some narrative gaps between the first Godzilla in this universe and KOTM...if you want a full ride. By the way, the first Kong Movie is actually set in the early 70's
The new GvK should be called GvK ragnarok. It is not a bad movie, but it yhas gone for a fully tonal shift to embracing over the top battle scenes and comedy. It has lost all of the Monarch mystery, and Monarch has become supporters of Godzilla and Kong because the events oif godzilla king of the monsters and GvK. It is not bad, but if you are expecting a more serious godzilla movie you will be very disappointed. They almost have to do it because the monsters just destroy whatever city they come to. Really, the city is just the background in a fighting game. They barely even pretend to give a fuck about all the people dying. Godzilla just starts napping in rome's colloseum and Rome is just told he is godzilla he naps where he likes. You just have to go with the movie and cheer for the monsters. Don't think too much about the death or why the fuck would Monarch ever build such a thing.
Basically comic book movie logic. First rule of comic book movies is never acknowledge the death being caused.
Not unless you are into dark humor. There is a point in the movie where they flashed onto a beach in Rio. I burst out with a huge laugh because you know they are just showing what is about to be toe cheese on all the monsters. It was very quiet in the theater, and I was very loud. There was a young kid behind us who was getting things, and I think I made him cry because he realized I was pre-laughing about all the dead people. It is not my fault, they were jumping the fucking shark in pure awesome battle mode right before that. I was able to stifle the argument I was having with myself over whether or not it would be better if when mothra and godzilla got back together it would be better to have a sex scene or go right to the battle. There was a part of me that really wanted to see GZ and Mothra sex on a HD movie screen in front of a lot of kids and parents who would have been terminally surprised. The movie does have some out there battle scenes, and it is done well. It is not like later transformers movies where the action got blurred because they shifted quickly to overcome lacking in CGI. This CGI is so fucking good the monsters are expressive and doing john wick level moves. The best part of this movie is that there is no speaking by GZ, Kong, Baby kong, and others and they are talking to each other with looks that you can fully understand. There is the silent tribe in this and the girl who speaks with kong, and you do not need dialog. Not that there is a lot being said, but you are understanding godzilla's thoughts because the face is animated to that degree. There are moments where they are just wisecracking or sending emotions with their eyes and is is not the obvious animated way of overstating facial expressions and body language. This is a popcorn movie of fun. I am glad I saw it in the theater with an audience because everyone shared in the cheering and emotions. I think on the small screen it would have been too silly and too childish.
