An interesting analysis of GvK’s place in the industry’s recovery as the COVID-19 pandemic emergency wound down sufficiently that theatres reopened.
Godzilla vs. Kong eventually earned $470 million worldwide, making it a true, unqualified success. It was the first sign that en masse moviegoing could still exist in whatever our new normal would look like.
It’s a weird movie, in the sense that it’s really not very good, not even by Hollywood kaiju standards. Personally I’d rather rewatch the Roland Emmerich farce than this one.
But at the same time, as the linked article says — maybe that was just the sort of mindless action everybody needed after lockdown. We were just emerging from our homes again, unsure how to deal with the world, and there was Kong Lebowskying around Skull Island like nobody’s business.
It’s so goofy and dumb you almost disregard that some of the main cast play actual tinfoil hat conspiracy theorists who get proven right that, yes, the Earth is in fact hollow, and also Atlantis is right there. Plus Kong somehow stands a fighting chance against big G, in what scenario does that hold water?
There’s a time and a place for everything, and boy, did this ridiculous spectacle hit a dry spot when it was needed.
Actually, I changed my mind. I’m going to rewatch GvK tonight.
I’m really wondering how Legendary Entertainment is going to reconcile the much more grounded television offerings with the comic style over the top extravaganzas that the later movies became.
The 2027 movie is expected to feature Space Godzilla.
And as you note, there’s the ongoing power ups to Kong — mainly through help from Apex — that leave the Monsterverse franchise wide open to traditional kaiju/Toho fan criticism that its Godzilla is a GINO (Godzilla in name only).
My guess is, they aren’t going to reconcile anything. It’s a “small screen, small scale stories; big screen, SO MANY MONSTER FIGHTS” rationale.
I’m watching the movie now, and it’s as bad as I remember. Never mind the inner inconsistencies, but every line from Bernie is insulting. Nothing against Brian Tyree Henry, it’s the writing. On the heels of awful DIY covid remedies, here is a character that advocates showering with bleach.
Oh, and I had to look up one of his looney phrases, “breakaway civilisation”… I wish I’d used a VPN, I’m on so many watchlists now.
This one is coming up on my rewatch list.
I’ll resist looking that stuff up.
