Who doesn’t love a monster movie? Even if it’s a classic horror movie with monsters, I don’t think there’s anyone who can’t appreciate a good monster movie and that’s exactly what a King Kong or a Godzilla movie really is. It’s just a fun monster movie. You don’t need some great story, just monsters fighting and sometimes that’s the best entertainment in a movie theater. And that’s what I can say about the latest Godzilla reboot, Godzilla vs. Kong. I’m not going to start out this review by telling you that it’s a great movie or it’s going to change how we make movies, but it’s a perfect fun film that you can watch any movie theater at movies are starting to come back. And I say movie theater because this is the type of movie that needs to be seen on the big screen. Sure, it’s entertaining if you watch it on HBO Max, but going to a big movie theater with awesome surround sound, with popcorn or candy or a beer, this movie is the perfect escapism and why we go to movie theaters just to be entertained. I enjoyed the film, it was fun, like I said it’s not great, but it doesn’t have to be. It does a wonderful job of entertaining and the special effects are not so over-the-top that you feel like you’re watching a video game instead of a movie. With this latest installment in the Godzilla reboot series, the movies have had their ups and downs. Godzilla: King of the Monsters wasn’t as good as I could have been. Kong: Skull Island wasn’t even necessarily the best King Kong movie ever made, but they were both entertaining. I think Godzilla vs Kong is one of the better movies of the series and definitely an improvement over the last film, but that may not be saying much.

So why are Godzilla and King Kong going to fight… that’s the big question that sets up the premise for this movie. If you’re looking for a complicated answer, that’s not this movie nor does it require something scientific explanation except for the fact that you can’t have two alfa Predators on the same planet. One has got to go and thus brings us the plot point of the Hollow Earth or something like a parallel universe if you will… it’s a place where one can exist and the other Alpha can exist someplace else… it makes sense, but you have to have a bad guy and that brings in the evil corporation that wants to bring down all the alfa Predators under the excuse that it’s protecting humanity. Yep, that’s the basic plot. I’m not necessarily complaining about the plot and you’ve got to have a protagonist and antagonist in your story to make it work, but instead of one monster being evil in the other monster being good of course it’s mankind trying to control everything.

And to make the plot work even further, you also have to have the plucky kids who discover the conspiracy and somehow save the day and that’s where the character played by Millie Brown comes in. It pretty much feels like an episode of Stranger Things.  The Plot is very simplistic and we’ve seen it before.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing but that’s what you get because at the end of the day this is a monster movie where you’re going to see two Alphas go at it and that’s what you want. One of the things that works in this film is they don’t over complicate the plot and it has a lot of good action scenes, but that’s all the movie really is. Unlike in previous films where you develop an origin story about the house of predators this one is just about how the two can exist and how mankind is evil.

Now what doesn’t work for this film is you have a very simplistic plot while trying to add a story of sympathetic human beings that want to help the predators so it’s not just a movie about monsters fighting each other. The biggest problem this movie has it doesn’t take the time to really develop new characters and hopes that everybody just knows what’s going on with the returning characters. Then again, if you’ve never seen any of the other movies then you don’t really know anything about these characters and maybe you don’t really need to because the plot line is very simple. But one thing I did notice in the difference between this Kong movie versus the origin story movie Skull Island, there was plenty of character development. You got to know each one of the characters and why they were there especially the World War II pilot who had been stranded on the island for 22 years. It was a nice touch that during the credits you get to see him return home and watch a Cubs game. This film immediately jumped into the action and except for the little girl who can’t speak, but can communicate with Kong you are left to guess why all these characters are really there. I mean, you sort have know the agenda with the scientist working with Kong, but it isn’t explained that well as it should be. I look at this current film as just a pure action film and nothing really matters regarding the characters. They make you laugh. It’s cool to see Millie Brown play in this world as if she’s in the next season of Stranger Things along with her plucky sidekick, but at least the other films took time to establish the characters and their motives. You at least got to know their origins in what brought them to the current situation. Not this film and that’s what makes it less than the movie it could have been.

It’s a fun monster movie, there’s no denying that. But it is also largely forgettable compared to the other films. It’s like that sequel you have to make but isn’t going to measure up to the first film. It’s simply a fun monster movie to see on the big screen and you should see it on the big screen because that’s what it’s meant for. If you are a King Kong and a Godzilla fan then you definitely want to see this movie. If you could care less about monster movies then unfortunately there isn’t anything special that will make you see this movie unless you just want to see monsters on the big screen because you haven’t been to the movies in a while during a pandemic. It is definitely one of the weaker films in the reboot series, but it looks good so it does have that going for it. However, the origin movies for Godzilla and King Kong are the better ones of this series… to me Godzilla vs Kong is like the Freddy versus Jason movie. There’s no need to make it, but you do because you have these two beloved characters and why not have them face off against each other. And unfortunately, there’s nothing special about the bad guy, it’s the same trope that we’ve always seen a really were a rich guy who wants to control the monsters under the guise of saving humanity. If you’re going to see it at the movie theater, see it as a matinee and have some fun with it. It’s an adequate enough film that you will enjoy it at the movies, but that’s it. It will entertaining enough and the same goes for watching it on HBO Max.