King Kong vs. Godzilla - Terrific Titans Tussle

It's amazing to say in just a year that we're finally getting a remake of this legendary battle. But I'm just glad it ever happened at all. These days, crossovers seem to be the norm. Avengers: Infinity War, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Batman vs. the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, crossovers are now a commonality. It only makes sense, really. You take two proven formulas, mash 'em together, and usually the result is pretty dang good. But when it was hard for companies to agree and for getting two franchises to collide, it was an event when it did happen. But in the times when it did happen, it was special. And this movie here is a special crossover. It only makes sense. Two giant monsters duking it out is a formula always has and always will work. Hell, giant monsters as a formula work. From the original brontosaurus outbreak in the Lost World, we love seeing monsters run amuck. So when you take the two greatest giant monsters of all the time, what do you get? You get King Kong vs. Godzilla, and a movie and battle for the ages.

When Mr. Tako, head of Pacific Pharmaceuticals is looking for a method to get more airtime and advertise his company better, he forms a venture to the small Farou Island in hopes of finding a giant gorilla god monster in order to use as a way to advertise his company. But when the monster, Kong escapes and Godzilla is broken free of the iceberg he was locked in since 1955, it's only a matter of time until the King of the East and the King of the West collide in a clash that won't be forgotten.

Let's start right off the bat: this movie is funny. It's really funny. Mr. Tako, played by Ichiro Arishima (pictured left IN GIF FORMAT) in particular is just a riot. Never in my years of watching Godzilla movies do I think I've seen a character this over the top, this stupid and this just, directly idiotic and he is just a joy to watch. His plan to get Kong to be a way to help his company is so ingeniously stupid that it is really a wonder that this tactic to use the monsters for advertisements isn't an angle that's been used enough in other movies. The commentary is right on the nose as well. It's not as, I'd say, ingenious as the commentary and messages of Godzilla, but it's still not bad commentary about how the economic boom and capitalism of modern Japan will made a massive race for everyone to advertise like crazy and do anything to be the company on top. It's very funny and yet really kind of poignant. It's a fun watch.


My favorite part about this movie however is, drum roll please: the monsters! Most especially, the look of Godzilla in this movie is one of his best in the entire series. He looks mean, he looks ready to fight, and he looks LEAGUES better than he did during Godzilla Raids Again. Toho was already planning a return for Godzilla once they acquired the script to this movie, so they made sure they went full out with Godzilla on this one. His atomic breath looks better than ever, I mean, I'd hope so considering it's in color and gains its famous blue look. Godzilla's bigger than Kong and his rampages around are a great bit of fun to watch. The character deserved a fun romp after being on ice for seven years, so seeing him return in such a fantastic fashion is really awesome to see.

Of course I know this is about complimenting the monsters, but, uh, let's talk about Kong in this one. For sure, I do still love Kong. I mean, the monster effects and this movie are great. But, I mean, there's no way around it: Kong looks like garbage. Of course, this is RIGHT after watching his masterful debut, but Kong does not look like he's been having a good time in this movie. He even sees some similar beats to the original, basically going on his story that he went through in King Kong, the main differences being he is from Farou Island, fights a giant octopus over any dinosaurs and gets knocked out by the natives from juice. And then once he's dragged to the mainland, he then goes onshore, rampages, kidnaps a girl, but instead of climbing a huge building, he just climbs on top of the Japanese National Diet Building and gets knocked out with the juice from Farou Island and is sent to fight Godzilla. But also, and this is real important here: KONG HAS MAGICAL ELECTRICITY POWERS LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. They set up giant towers outside of Tokyo to ward off the monsters like they did with Godzilla in 1954, and while it wards off Godzilla, IT MAKES KONG MORE POWERFUL. I know this is not the original timeline or anything, but I mean, this was something that seems real stitched into the script and based on the original plan of production for the movie, which you can read about briefly here. This is not what I'd call a perfect adaptation of Kong, not at all. And yet? He's still so much fun to watch! If you go into this movie expecting an amazing depiction of Kong or anything, well, you're just not going to get that. But what you do get from this movie is a lot of really fun action scenes, some really funny human characters who make the movie even more fun to watch, and you get to see the two greatest movie monsters of all time fight.

King Kong vs. Godzilla isn't a perfect movie. It's clear that making it was done fast, and yet it's fun to watch. There's sharp commentary, there's fun characters, and there's a great battle with two of cinema's greatest characters battling it out for superiority. There's not a lot else you could ask for. That is, except for a remake. I like this movie a lot, but it's been 57 years as of writing this. It honestly astounds me it took that long to get it done, but, hey! We now live in a world of crossovers being the norm, so when you have the rights to Godzilla and King Kong in this modern era, there really is only one option: remake it with love for the original, big effects and a budget that's so astronomically high that it can't really be fathomed. I'm really excited for when Godzilla vs. Kong comes out, 'cause if it's as fun as this one, then we'll have just another awesome movie under this series' belt.

And of course, because this is a King Kong vs. Godzilla review, let's talk about the ending. Now, if I may, *cough* *cough*. There never was a double ending, Kong wins.

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I'm excited for tomorrow, 'cause we got one I've never seen before! I've always been a huge fan of Manda, so it's time to see his debut movie: Atragon. So far, Toho's not bad on the debut movies. Except for Varan. That was a mistake. So, let's see how I feel tomorrow after seeing Atragon!