Godzilla X Kong movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Godzilla X Kong

RATING: PG-13

LENGTH: 1 hour 55 minutes

Movie Review Mom GRADE: B+

IN A NUTSHELL:

The movie is the next installment in the ongoing saga between King Kong and Godzilla. We see an epic clash as humans unravel the titans’ origins and connection to Skull Island.

The film was directedy by Adam Wingard with writing credits going to Terry Rossio, Simon Barrett, and Jeremy Slater.

This year (2024) is the 70^th anniversary of the entire Godzilla franchise in film! This movie is being released exactly 10 years after the first Godzilla movie that launched this modern franchise.

This is the first MonsterVerse movie to be shot entirely in IMAX 1.90:1 aspect ratio. Try to watch this movie on the biggest screen you can. Hearing the audience’s reaction in a theater is worth the price of admission.

THINGS I LIKED:

The first 7 ½ minutes are gorgeous, funny, and awesome. During the next 7 minutes, we get a quick review of where the story left off in the last movie and some foreshadowing of where it’s going.
Some absolutely stunning landscapes and scenery.
If you’re hoping for lots of action, you’ll be happy to know that there are a lot of battle sequences between a bunch of different creatures.
The leads in the cast are Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Kaylee Hottle, Rachel House, and the wonderful Dan Stevens (I’m such a fan).
We get to learn some new lore about Godzilla and Kong.
Fantastic sound effects and crazy, cool visual effects.
The movie poster instantly made me want to know more. I was especially curious about the contraption on Kong’s hand and arm.
We get to go to Rome, Barbados, Miami, Egypt, Brazil, and the amazing world inside our earth called “Hollow Earth.” The movie was actually filmed in Australia, just like the 2017 Kong: Skull Island and the 2021 Godzilla vs. Kong.
So many moments made me laugh out loud because they were so ridiculous, but in a good way.
Baby Kong? Sort of. Its name is Suko, which means “Essential Child” in Japanese, but “surrender” in Tagalog. The working title of the movie was “Son of Kong.” Apparently, there has been a hot debate about whether Suko is male or female. The studio finally disclosed that it was originally going to be male, but it was changed to female later in development. The director explained that it’s Suko who is the heart of the movie and what brings out a new softer side of Kong.
Fans of Mothra should be very excited to see its inclusion in the film. We don’t get to see a lot of Mothra, but it’s something!
We’re also introduced to a new brutal villain who goes beast-mode with his deadly weapon: Skar King. Fun fact: “Skar” means “wild” in a Scottish dialect. He is the ultimate anti-Kong.
Speaking of beast, Kong’s special glove is called B.E.A.S.T. which stands for Bio Enhanced Anatomech Seismic Thunder.
The color palette is bright and extremely colorful, exactly what the director wanted when he envisioned the fun feeling you got walking down a toy store aisle in the 1980s.
Fun soundtrack.
In case you’re wondering about the title, the “x” is supposed to be silent, according to the director. It’s supposed to mean a collaboration and ties into the idea that the last movie was Godzilla v. Kong.
Surprisingly, this is the cheapest MonsterVerse film to be made at $135 million.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

If you’re a huge fan of Godzilla, you might be disappointed because the majority of the movie is about Kong. The directed admitted, “You can’t be as close to Godzilla as you can Kong”, viewing Kong as the main character of the Monsterverse. Agreed.
Even though the movie is almost 2 hours long, it flew by fast for me!
Hardcore fans are annoyed that the merchandising of Godzilla’s dorsal plates are red, while they are actually pink in the movie. The director revealed that pink is his favorite color.
To really understand what’s going on, you really need to back up and watch a few of the previous movies in this new-ish franchise.
Many fans have complained that they were disappointed in Tom Holkenborg’s score for the film, preferring Bear McCreary’s reinterpretation of the original score by Yuji Koseki. The director explained that it was an intentional decision to make it different.
There are some plot points that really don’t make any sense. Who cares? The movie is still doggone fun to watch.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Various creatures get ripped in half, releasing drippy goo of green and orange.
Lots and lots of destruction
Titan violence.
Unless you know sign language, you’ll need to read subtitles every now and then.

THEMES:

Family
Home
Finding your place in the world
Humans and the animal world

FUNNY LINES:

“Mi casa es tu home.” – Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry)

INTERESTING LINES:

“This place could be your home.” – Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall) “You are my home.” – Jia (Kaylee Hottle)
“For most of human civilization, we believed that life could only exist on the surface of our planet. What else were we wrong about?” – Ilene Andrews
“This world has more secrets than we could possibly imagine.” – Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall)
“She can feel it. Kong. Godzilla. They can feel it too. Something is coming. Something even they’re afraid of.” – Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall)
“It’s not just a signal. That’s a call for war.” – Trapper (Dan Stevens)
“They don’t have to like each other; they just have to work together.” – Trapper (Dan Stevens)