The way to battle
It is a truism to say that in the so-called monster movies the most important thing are the big monsters taking part in the cinema spectacle. This doesn’t mean, however, that fights alone are enough to pull you to the screen. Only in conjunction with a rather uncomplicated, but neatly presented story and heroes about whom you can have any feelings, I am able to get involved in the screening. For this reason, the two previous installments of the film reboot of Godzilla’s adventures were a big disappointment for me, because they tried to put human heroes who found themselves in a crisis situation in the center of attention. The concept itself may seem interesting, but the characters have been purged of characters and even the emergence of kaijuit could not break the boredom accompanying the screening for good. The situation was completely different in the case of Kong: Skull Island . The film by Jordan Vogt-Roberts was much more self-aware, did not try to be too serious, and the title character actually stole the show as the ruler of the island. Fortunately, debuting in Monsterverse Adam Wingard has found a golden mean and the latest show does not suffer from these ailments.
The evolution of the king
The director and writers evidently realized that the big gorilla had little development time so far, with only one solo film. Hence, the beginning of the story brings viewers closer to the figure of Kong, much older and larger than the last time. The lonely, surprisingly smart and “human” ruler of Skull Island is a character who beats with emotions all the time and it is impossible not to like her. It is not without reason that he lives in a fairly warm relationship with the group of people who conduct research on the island. However, the peace is broken when Godzilla – until now the defender of humanity – attacks a private corporation for unknown reasons. Such a series of events leads to the selection of the Congo as the one that can face the destructive lizard and at the same time take part in the expedition to the Hollow Earth, which is a possible source of the titans’ origin. The mighty hero is already very tired and in fact seems to be looking for a home in all this, his place in the world. In its own reflective way, the monster is thus the opposite of Godzilla, which this time devoted much less screen time, but that’s because it is more mysterious, as an unbridled element whose actions we try to understand through a large part of the film.
Clash of the titans and the people in the background
Everything, of course, is primarily an excuse for the monsters to stand up against each other several times. Despite its simplicity, the plot was drawn quite smoothly, divided into two intertwining plots. Most of the time, both title characters walk different paths, and apart from them, groups of people whose fates are somehow related to them. In the case of Congo, it is the aforementioned expedition with a deaf girl bonding with the gorilla. Godzilla is followed by two teenagers with a podcast about conspiracy theories. The human characters in this story come off surprisingly… fine. Not only do they not bother you (which is a plus), but you can also like them, and the dynamics between the characters has been carried out quite tolerably. There is also a minor moralizing,
On the other hand, when the fictional exhibition and the feelings of the monsters are relegated to the background, and there are fights, great and wonderful things happen. Really, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to conclude that Godzilla vs. Kong may have some of the best action scenes ever to hit a blockbuster. None of the sequences lacks momentum, you can feel the scale of the clashes in various locations, and their direction remains first-rate. Regardless of the circumstances, it is a popcorn feast for the eyes. There are also some genre references. Of the most visible – Godzilla traversing the water is often captured in a way inspired by scenes from Jaws .
Monsters in the end of the house
European viewers were a bit worse off with the Godzilla vs. Kong . Due to the ongoing pandemic, the film had a hybrid premiere in the US, hitting selected cinemas and the HBO Max streaming platform at the same time. In Poland, the service is still unavailable, and since the cinemas were still closed in March, not only did you have to wait for the premiere on the big screen, but now it was possible to watch the show at home. Was it worth waiting for the release?
Blu-ray from Galapagos? Definitely yes! First of all, the image quality on the 1080p screen is great (a 4K version is also available for sale for owners of newer TVs) and beats the typical streaming experience. As you can guess, this is of great importance in action scenes that simply look even better, but also outside of them, watching the detailed monsters or the Empty Earth is just a pleasure. It should also be mentioned that the disc contains the original soundtrack (with optional Polish subtitles) in the Dolby Atmos standard. A Polish voiceover is also available, while maintaining 5.1 sound.
As is the case with Blu-ray releases, it could not do without bonus materials that provide an additional incentive to buy. There are quite a few of these. The most interesting of them, in my opinion, is the director’s comment on the film, thanks to which you can capture a surprisingly large amount of detail. In addition, there are ten materials with the participation of the creators and cast, to lighten a little the individual elements and threads of the film and the mythology of the Monsterverse. Although it is quite pleasant to read, it is rather aimed at a layman and I doubt that people more familiar with the characters of Kong and Godzilla would learn a lot from it. Nevertheless, the release itself looks very solid.
Source: hollywoodreporter.com
The battle is tempting
Godzilla vs. The Kong is definitely a successful crossover. Although it is not an outstanding work, it provides a lot of emotions, creating surprisingly interesting portraits of great monsters and setting impressive battles in a meaningfully written, and most importantly, engaging story. The Blu-ray release, thanks to its high-quality picture and sound quality, and nice bonus material, is a great opportunity to catch up with the movie. Ultimately, it is a satisfying image that it also defends itself outside the big screen.
