Today, Godzilla vs. Kong roared into theaters, and I thought it would be a good time to debut our new series, “Should I Watch it?” Basically, we take a brand new movie, watch it, let it digest, and try to answer a very simple question, should you watch it? We tell you why you should, why you shouldn’t, and then why we did. With that in mind…
Should I Watch It? (Godzilla vs. Kong, 2021)
Why Yes
If you bought a ticket to see Godzilla vs. Kong with the expectations that your most strongly valued beliefs and philosophies were going to be challenged by a clever or nuanced thriller… you will be disappointed. This movie is ultimately about titanic monsters fighting each other in different environments, with palette cleansing scenes featuring humans.
I think we see more of Godzilla in action in this movie than we have in his previous two movies combined, with King Kong arguably acting as the main character of the film. This film has no shortage of action or monsters, which has been a criticism of the series in the past.
Look, it’s not a Christopher Nolan movie. There are no layers to peel pack, no levels to look through, this is a movie about Godzilla fighting King Kong, and not only do we get plenty of it, but what we get is exactly what we’ve been asking for.
Why No
I went into the movie knowing the human parts would underwhelm. It’s a staple of monster movies, and frankly, that’s okay with me. I don’t watch movies like this for the people. Having said that, the humans aren’t just a non-factor in this movie, they actively take away from the story. There are ten human characters that actually play an important role, and only two of them are from MonsterVerse movies. Not a single character in this movie experiences any kind of growth or has any personality, but the way the movie is written, it feels like they try to convince you that they do.
And yes, it is a movie about monsters fighting, and this feels nitpicky, but while this movie has the most action of the Monsterverse films so far, it is also, by far, the worst written. All of the dialogue feels pointless, yet also expository, and even the MCU writers think the characters are too quippy. And the plot reminds me of when I was little and would play make believe. Some of the ways the plot advances in this movie are so stupid I had to rewind the movie to make sure I understood what happened.
It’s a stupid monster movie, to the extreme, in every sense of the word.
Why I Did
I wanted the big dumb monster fighting scenes, and I was not disappointed. Unlike the first movie in the Monsterverse, 2014’s Godzilla, there is plenty of monster on monster action, and it looks fantastic. The plot and human characters are terrible, but frankly, that’s not why I watched it.
Godzilla vs. Kong is like a McDonalds meal. It might be cheap, unhealthy crap, but it’s tasty cheap, unhealthy crap, and you know exactly what you’re getting. If the sweet, guilty pleasure of a ten piece nugget is worth the bloated guilt, then by all mean’s necessary, watch this movie! Though I would stress, if you have HBO Max, I would sacrifice the big-screen experience for the $12 ticket.
Ryan’s Grade: 6.5/10
“Mindless fun that puts the emphasis on mindless and fun equally.“
Narcissistic Penguin 
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