'Godzilla vs. Kong' movie review: A battle to remember

'Godzilla vs. Kong' is not just an amazing monster movie, it is easily the best Hollywood 'Godzilla' (and 'Kong') movie ever

Director: Adam Wingard

Cast: Godzilla, Kong, Alexander Skarsgård, Rebecca Hall, Shun Oguri, Brian Tyree Henry

Score: 4/5 stars

There are a few times when the response to a film reminds you of its prequel. Celebrating and clapping whenever something exciting happens may well be a unique thing to India but when it comes to Godzilla vs. Kong, it proves once again that the fandom is always united for a great film.

The fourth entry in Legendary's MonsterVerse, Godzilla vs. Kong pits the fire-breathing Alpha lizard Godzilla against Kong, who we last saw tearing apart helicopters and killing Skullcrawlers in Kong: Skull Island. This time around, though, Kong is much, much larger and much stronger, and clearly willing and capable of fighting the 'King of the Monsters'.

Godzilla and Kong really go at each other, fighting out a Titan-sized MMA match in the middle of the ocean and in the middle of an unfortunate city (it's Hong Kong's turn to be flattened this time around).

Godzilla, quite unlike the previous films where he mostly stays away from human settlements, starts off the film utterly decimating Pensecola, Florida. Meanwhile, Kong is struggling to live in containment in a severely damaged Skull Island, all native life eroded by a storm.

And while that is the core reason why anyone would go watch the movie, there is a reasonably convincing human plot to accompany the monster battles. Broadly, there are two teams: Team Godzilla and Team Kong. And while neither wants to see their respective Titan come to blows, human intervention always forces their hand.

In the overall scheme of things, it's really Kong and Team Kong who are the heart of the film. This team comprises Nathan Lind, a disgraced Monarch scientist; Ilene Andrews, a Kong researcher; and Jia, a young Iwi orphan who is hard of hearing but possessed of an almost sixth-sense-like ability to detect Titans. Their story surrounds the idea of finding a home for Kong, who has grown too large for Skull Island. Led by Apex Cybernetics, they chart a way into the Hollow Earth, where they hope to find a home and a power source to fight Godzilla.

Meanwhile, Team Godzilla tries to uncover the source of Godzilla's rampage. This group comprises Madison Russell, Josh Valent and Bernie Hayes, a crackpot conspiracy theorist and former Apex employee. This trek leads to some rather disastrous consequences for everyone involved.

There's not much to say about most of the characters but if one had to single out the best two in the film, it would be Jia and Bernie. They are almost complete opposites in every way but they both ground their respective teams and offer a sense of direction to the film.

In terms of monster battles, Godzilla vs. Kong impresses beyond all previous MonsterVerse entries. Of the film's 1 hour 54 minute runtime, the monsters are on screen and battling for at least half of it. Godzilla and Kong are like wild animals here - tearing, gnawing and hacking at each other in rage. There is a point in the film, near the final third, where Godzilla displays a rage that not been seen since Godzilla vs Destoroyah, proving that he deserves to be feared. Kong, meanwhile, is acting out like the underdog who is out to prove his mettle.

Director Adam Wingard, best known for the slasher film You're Next (and sadly, Death Note), is really in his element here. Combined with a reasonably decent screenplay and some clever cinematography, he ensures that not a minute of the film is wasted on pointless sub-plots. The side effect of this is that there's a lot of expositionary dialogue but it's not nearly as much as it was in King of the Monsters. This, combined with Junkie XL's spectacular soundtrack, really come together to form a cohesive, solid film.

To close, Godzilla vs. Kong is easily the best entry in the MonsterVerse since 2014's Godzilla reboot. It's fast, it's no-nonsense and it delivers on the promise of having the best on-screen monster battle in recent years.