“THE TWO MIGHTIEST MONSTERS OF ALL TIME!” one movie poster exclaims, followed by, “IN THE MOST COLOSSAL CONFLICT THE SCREEN HAS EVER KNOWN!”
I don’t know about all that, but it beats the hell out of 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters. And it will probably be better than Godzilla vs. Kong, planned for release in 2021. It’s hard to imagine that will be worse than King of the Monsters–easily one of the worst movies I’ve ever scene–but it will still be bad.
The classic 1962 version, King Kong vs. Godzilla, is far from a great cinematic feat. I watched the English version, which frequently cuts to an American newsman and a scientist, who are discussing and updating viewers on the goings-on of the two monsters. Clearly, the purpose of these two men is to keep the American audience from getting completely lost, seeing as they serve no real purpose in advancing the plot. Though the Japanese actors are voiced-over in English, it could still seem confusing when jumbled in with all the action and multiple narratives.
But, really, can you get that confused by a Godzilla movie? You just want to see buildings being smashed!
And you get plenty of smashed up buildings in this one, though perhaps less than usual. As the title suggests, this is mostly monster on monster action. And in fact, the best scene of the film shows Kong fighting…a giant octopus. It’s actually a really good scene where they use a real octopus for much of the scene. The fights between Kong and Godzilla, by comparison, are pretty underwhelming, with lots of fake rock throwing and waving arms angrily. Maybe the most entertaining parts of the film are the scenes with comedic banter between the juys tasked with rounding-up King Kong.
All in all, King Kong vs. Godzilla is a pretty forgettable movie. But who doesn’t like to imagine it’s themselves dressed up as monsters destroying a miniature version of Japan? That would be so damn fun!
See it on YouTube.