GRADE: C+

It’s a matchup years in the making. Two of the most iconic monsters in film history, Godzilla and King Kong, meeting on the big screen for the first time in decades. The new film delivers on the epic big scale fights you would expect. But that’s about it. 

The 2021 film’s title pretty much gives away how this is going to go: Godzilla and Kong have an ancient rivalry, and for some reason the two are always at each other’s necks. Something has provoked Godzilla into attacking a base in Florida (a real treat for fans of the Godzilla lore.) And somehow, Kong is the answer to stop the giant lizard. 

The two Kaiju first met up in the 1962 film ‘King Kong vs Godzilla.’ If you were a fan of that one, you’ll appreciate some of the callbacks the 2021 take delivers. It takes some pieces from that story to form some of the plot, and it might be part of the problem. It feels all over the place, and requires the audience to suspend a lot belief. 

‘GvK’ has a pretty solid human cast, with Alexander Skaarsgard, Millie Bobby Brown, Brian Tyree Henry, Kyle Chandler and Rebecca Hall. But like many of these massive city smashing monster films, their characters fade into the background rather than driving the story forward. The film tries to make you buy in to them, but the emotional connections they manufacture feel hollow and unearned. Especially since many of these characters weren’t given the proper emotional weight in past movies leading up to this moment. 

All that aside, this is a movie MADE for the big screen. Buildings toppling, explosions and fire galore! Monsters just bashing eachother over and over! The scope is wide and the fights seem to be exactly what Warner Brothers and Legendary wanted to cap off their four film Monsterverse. It just makes you wonder; how would the humans in the city respond? If you can get past that, and you go into this for monster fights and vibes, you’ll love ‘Godzilla Vs. Kong.’ If you want a little more nuanced and detailed storytelling, this may not be the film for you. 

Godzilla vs Kong gets a C+ from me. That means it’s somewhat watchable and mildly entertaining. You can catch it in theaters and on HBO Max March 31.