Godzilla vs. Kong

This movie has one job, and does it.

Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)

4 / 5

I saw the other day this movie has cleared $500 million in global box office. And those are lockdown numbers, with theaters in many places still operating at less than full capacity. In a normal year, this movie might have cleared a billion in box office. Why?

Because it’s about giant monsters whupping on each other, that’s why. This is a movie that exists solely as popcorn fun. There’s no political subtext. There’s no moralizing speech from a plucky waif or an appropriately diverse political leader. This movie is built to make you gawk at special effects. And it does that with brisk efficiency. It’s genuinely entertaining. And in today’s gloomy world of forever-masks and clueless political knee-jerking, genuine entertainment is what we desperately need. 

Is it good? Does it matter? Okay, it matters, though given that this movie is doing exactly what the title says it’s going to do, how is that even measured? There’s just enough plot to keep the action moving--a simple closet bar on which is hung some really superb special effects fight sequences. It gets a little shaky in spots (the Millie Bobby Brown subplot is a super tropey railroad that isn’t going to surprise you) but such shakes are easily ignored because the next giant monster brawl is starting. It’s a hoot and a half. Just watch it and enjoy the spectacle. Totally worth seeing on the biggest screen possible.

4 stars of 5: I liked it, and I’d watch it again at least one more time.