The Monsterverse in a brand new light

It’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed most aspects of our daily lives, and the movie industry is no different. In a surprising turn of events, however, one film has managed to shake up the norm of recent movie releases and provide hope for the future of the film industry. For the entirety of this month, “Godzilla vs Kong” is available both on HBO Max and in theaters and, after watching it three times this month, I can confidently say that it’s a great movie.

My initial thoughts are that the movie does a great job of being the culmination of the Monsterverse series. There are plenty of references to past films, including the return of Mark and Madison Russel (Kyle Chandler and Millie Bobby Brown), a little girl named Jia (Kaylee Hottle) who is a member of the tribe found in “Kong: Skull Island,” and more that I won’t mention for the sake of spoilers. Speaking of Jia, another major strength of the movie is how it handles the titans. Like the previous films in the Monsterverse, one of the major ideas surrounding the titans is that they’re intelligent creatures with more to them than destroying cities or fighting each other. Not only is this exemplified by actively showing expressions as well as communication between the titans, but there is a direct connection between Jia and Kong that is relevant to the entire film.

That being said, "Godzilla vs Kong” isn’t without its weaknesses. While the fighting is easily better choreographed than anything in the “Star Wars” sequel trilogy, the camerawork and speed in many of the fights create a loss in the weight behind each strike of the titans. This is especially apparent when compared to “Godzilla: King of the Monsters,” where every time two titans clashed you could practically feel the vibrations in the air. I also found the titan calls and the music a bit lacking. In “King of the Monsters,” every fight was accompanied by masterful recreations of classic “Godzilla” music and cries that could send physical shivers down your spine. I didn’t find much of that in “Godzilla vs Kong,”save for one scene where Godzilla and Kong roar at each other, and almost none of the music that was present overly stood out to me.

Overall “Godzilla vs Kong” was fun to watch, and I plan to do so again before its time on HBO Max expires. And, I’m not the only one. Not only is it the highest box office haul since the start of the pandemic (a stark contrast to the financial flop that “King of the Monsters” was), but it also resulted in #ContinueTheMonsterverse to trend on Twitter for a while. If you’re a long-time kaiju fan looking for a new film to satisfy that monster battle craving or a newcomer to the “Godzilla” franchise looking for a fun starting point, then “Godzilla vs Kong” might just be for you.