Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) - Keep On Engaging!?

 

★★☆☆☆

2014's 'Godzilla' is surprisingly fresh. 2019's 'Godzilla: King of the Monsters' is ridiculously dumb. This year's 'Godzilla vs. Kong' is a little bit better than its predecessor but still a mind-numbing turn-off, more or less. I didn't intend to check it out honestly but since Hong Kong's involved and my mind wants to be numb at times so... Well, the film's not a complete letdown though, if all you want is eye-catching, above-the-average choreographed non-stop action. Again, I guess it's just me tending to find stuff like that boring and exhausting far too easily. Anyways it works in terms of switching off my mind for a while.

Now I'm gonna spoil it, so if catching 'Godzilla vs. Kong' is still your only choice of fun for the time being, stop reading on then. Last time in 'Godzilla: King of the Monsters', Godzilla is the hero. This time it's the villain reluctantly, not because of Kong, but because of robot-Godzilla, a genius destructive invention by us mankind imitating the power of Godzilla itself.

There're two major confrontations only between these two titans. One happens in the open sea just about minutes into the film. Kong loses but Godzilla is too stupid to seize the chance to end it all. Then there we go for another one in Hong Kong, which is basically a concrete jungle. A jungle fight would somehow benefit jungle habituating Kong, don't you think? Still Kong's kinda losing! The action here is hands down magnificent though. It'd be of course more satisfying to catch it on IMAX screen but that's become so inconvenient thanks to the China virus!

There're two things during the fight in Hong Kong that knock me for six. One is, two Chinese characters, 'Jing-dong', a Chinese online shopping platform, appearing and freezing there right next to Kong for quite a few seconds. It's a huge billboard the same height as Kong hanging outside of a skyscraper. If that represents the future of Hong Kong, then it deserves to be smashed and burned and destroyed completely like it is in the film. The other thing is Godzilla making peace with Kong in the end, after them defeating robot-Godzilla together. I can't help but recall what former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said when asked how the U.S. should be dealing with China, 'weakness begets war, it begets hostility'! History has taught us many times before that appeasement policy is never a solution to a peaceful world even though that may not be the story 'Godzilla vs. Kong' is trying to tell here!