4K Blu-ray Review: Godzilla vs. Kong

Blu-ray Reviews, Reviews, Top Story

I have to start this by saying that I’m absolutely thrilled that the MonsterVerse was able to get to the point where we’re able to witness the climactic battle between Godzilla and King Kong, because after the dip in box office with Godzilla: King of the Monsters I was worried it may end there.

Now I absolutely loved King of the Monsters, as well as Kong: Skull Island. Both of those films are just an absolute blast that deliver all sorts of fantastic Kaiju mayhem. I also enjoyed the reboot that kick-started the whole MonsterVerse back in 2014 with Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla (however, upon revisiting that one it’s definitely frustrating to be teased with Godzilla time and time again, mainly in the background, while the humans – and fairly uninteresting ones, at that – take center stage); but despite what Kong would have you believe, it’s the box office that’s king.

While it’s unclear if it was the “fool me once” saying that caused audiences to be hesitant about showing up for a Godzilla sequel, the fact remains that King of the Monsters didn’t open as strongly as the studio would’ve liked. That was frustrating to me as a fan of the character and the film, so needless to say I was relieved to see that work was already underway on Godzilla vs. Kong and that even a weaker showing at the box office for its predecessor wasn’t going to stop it from being made. Flash forward to 2021, and does Godzilla vs. Kong live up to all a Kaiju-lover would hope for in a battle of these two titans? Oh, hell yeah.

Godzilla vs. Kong is an absolute atomic blast. Director Adam Wingard delivers on all fronts, as it’s clear he knows the audience is there to watch these two trade punches and he doesn’t hold back. There are three solid bouts involving Kong and Godzilla, two of which see the two go at it without holding anything back. I avoid movie trailers, so I had no idea that the first battle between these two beasts would take place in the middle of the ocean. I was just sitting there with my mouth aghast as Godzilla made his way through the water towards a fleet of battleships, one of which had Kong chained up on board. What? There’s no way they’re going to do this. Oh my god, they’re going to do this…was basically my thought process right before Godzilla breached the water and the fight was on.

It. Was. Awesome. If that was the only time the two fought I’d still argue that it was worth the price of admission. Everything about this ocean battle was just so well choreographed and designed perfectly, it was just incredibly memorable. Little did I know that their second bout would be just as awesome, thanks once again to a fantastic idea for a setting and the design behind it as the two duke it out, at night, in an incredibly heavily neon-lit Hong Kong. Absolutely beautiful. The third bout takes place in that same location during the day, and it’s fantastic in its own right, but the two one on one matches you’re paying to see are the ocean battle and the neon-lit Kong Kong match. The rest is just gravy…kick-ass Kaiju-sized gravy.

The MonsterVerse hasn’t shied away from involving humans into the mix, and that’s often where audiences are split. In 2014 we had the interesting Bryan Cranston unceremoniously killed early on in the film, leaving only his less intriguing son, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, to carry the film. I say this because most of the movie was about him, and any time Godzilla showed up they’d quickly cut away from him and back to Taylor-Johnson. It did build a bit of anticipation for when we finally got to see Godzilla unleash his wrath in the final act, but it was a lot of human drama to get there.

Then we jumped back to 1973 for Skull Island and got to see a Kong film take place right as the Vietnam War was coming to an end. This film also brought the organization Monarch to the forefront, and the cast was just full of top tier talent like Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson, John Goodman and John C. Reilly. This film nailed the mix of humans and giant monsters perfectly, and the all-star cast sure didn’t hurt. Godzilla: King of the Monsters continued to keep Monarch at center stage – led by Ken Watanabe – while also introducing the Russell family, played by Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga and Millie Bobby Brown.

While all these films connect with one another from a story perspective, only a few characters continue on from film to film – and unfortunately due to the time period Skull Island took place, none of that cast could appear in these more present day sequels. Unfortunately that means by the time we’ve hit Godzilla vs. Kong, the only recognizable faces are on the side of Godzilla; however, the handling of its characters and how they land on sides is a very cool way for the film to handle the human characters.

While I’ll admit without question that the weakest parts of Godzilla vs. Kong stem from the human characters, I also understand that they have their parts to play and it is what it is. Could some of it have been handled better? Sure. Two teenagers and a conspiracy theorist just walking into a secret underground facility, boarding an underground monorail and being launched across the world to Hong Kong (where they arrive safely and exit the monorail again with no security issues) is ridiculous. I’m willing to suspend my disbelief greatly in a film like this, so just add some more guards that they have to sneak by, or have them figure out a way to take out a guard or two on their journey. To think that this hugely illegal, monster-breeding facility just has little to no security is weird.

That all said, I loved how both Kong and Godzilla had their supporters. As mentioned before, the previous cast from Kong may very likely all be dead from old-age at this point, so they’re off the board and Kong is the one who gets new friends this outing. Those friends are Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall), Nathan Lind (Alexander Skarsgård) and Jia (Kaylee Hottle), who is Ilene’s adopted daughter. Jia is also the last of the Iwi tribe from Skull Island, and because she’s deaf she’s created a bond with Kong and the two are able to communicate with one another. This group is set on discovering Hollow Earth and need Kong to lead them there; however, by taking Kong out of the protective barrier that surrounded Skull Island they know it’ll alert Godzilla to his presence as another Alpha monster and trigger a potential battle. It’s a risk they’re willing to take though, because the movie has to happen!

Over on Godzilla’s side, something caused the giant savior to attack an Apex Cybernetics facility and in doing so he also destroyed a large part of the city. This causes the world to turn on him and question as to whether or not he was ever there to help them. Monarch takes more of a backseat this film, with Mark Russell (Chandler) returning only in small bits, and his daughter, Madison (Brown) taking over as the human lead out to defend Godzilla. She knows that something must have caused Godzilla to do what he did and she’s out to prove his innocence.

This is great use of the human characters to have them both showcase Godzilla and Kong as the good guys, so no matter who you’re rooting for in the clash of the titans, you know that your guy is being treated with respect and isn’t just labeled the villain because the film needs one (it’s so much easier to have a generic, evil businessman anyway!) Again, that’s not to say that there aren’t plenty of ridiculous things that happen thanks to the human characters, but this is the epitome of a summer popcorn blockbuster flick so that grants it some leniency on that front.

Godzilla vs. Kong delivered everything I was hoping for and more, which sounds cliché but that’s fine. I wanted to see these two trade blows, and Wingard made sure that when they did it was spectacular. The visual effects team should be proud, as they absolutely rocked it. Getting to watch these two behemoths beat the hell out of one another from all angles without any of it looking like it’s simply CGI and the environment reacting accordingly is astonishing. Honestly, there’s just so much fun to be had here that I can look past most of the human mishaps along the way. If you’ve yet to see this movie, do yourself a favour and put aside two hours, surround yourself with snacks and get ready for some monstrous fun.

Blu-ray Video and Audio Review:

Godzilla vs. Kong on 4K is an absolutely gorgeous movie. This is the way you should aim to view it if you’ve yet to see it and it’s at all possible. The Blu-ray also looks wonderful, but the extra clarity and pop from 4K really compliments a film like this and showcases it in the way it was meant to be seen. It’s a 2160p, HDR-enhanced transfer that’s sourced from the original 4K intermediate, so it’s truly the theatrical experience placed into your living room. Just a superb transfer that receives the highest marks.

On the audio side there are just as many compliments to fire off, as the Dolby Atmos track is perfection. It also offers Dolby TrueHD 7.1 for those without access to Dolby Atmos, and again, if picture and sound ever mean anything to a movie-going experience, it’s a film like this where it matters most. Kudos to the team at Warner Bros. for delivering such a fantastic home theater experience with this film.

Special Features:

Audio Commentary – Director Adam Wingard is the lone commentator on this track and it works. While it’s always nice to get a mix of perspectives, Wingard is obviously the main decision maker with the film so his perspective on why certain technical choices were made, behind-the-scenes production stories as well as touching on all filmmaking aspects from the casting right down to editing is a great listen for fans of the film.

There are two features titled The God, which focuses on Godzilla, and The King, which focuses on King Kong. First up we have The God, which is broken up into two featurettes:

Godzilla Attacks – The first featurette hits six and a half minutes and sees various cast and crew members talking about Godzilla as a character, the history of the Kaiju as well as the part he plays in this film.

The Phenomenon of Gojira, King of the Monsters – This featurette comes in at just under 10-minutes and sees filmmaker Gareth Edwards come back, Wingard, writer Zach Shields, Sally Hawkins all touch on the legend of Godzilla, the franchise as a whole and their personal favourites.

The King is up next, and it’s broken up into four featurettes:

Kong Leaves Home – This is an 8-minute featurette that has some cast and crew talk about Kong the same way they did Godzilla, touching on his rich history, as well as the designs used in the film and his relationship with Jia in the film.

Kong Discovers Hollow Earth – This is another 8-minute featurette that showcases this film’s Hollow Earth and how it was created. There’s some fun, interesting bits to be learned here, and this would be a great place to have a potential sequel take place.

Behold Kong’s Temple – This is a 6-minute featurette that sees cast and crew talk about the scene where Kong finds the temple of his relatives, how it was built and what it means to Kong as a character.

The Evolution of Kong, Eighth Wonder of the World – This is an eight and a half minute featurette that mirrors the Godzilla featurette and sees a wide assortment of people from the franchise talk about Kong, their thoughts on him and his history. These aren’t overly long featurettes, so they’re quick, fun, easy watches if you’re at all interested.

The Rise of Mecha-Godzilla – This is a 7-minute featurette that focuses on the big reveal of Mecha-Godzilla in the film, all about his origins and how bringing him to life in this modern film was met with certain challenges along the way.

The Battles – There are three featurettes in this piece that focus on three different battles in the film, breaking them down in different stages so audiences can see the concept art, pre-vis, and watch them build up to the final product. The three featurettes are broken up into the three battles between the titans:

Round One: Battle at Sea – This one is five minutes in length and focuses on my favourite battle in the movie.

Round Two: One Will Fall – This one is six minutes long and focuses on their beautiful fight in Hong Kong.

Titan Tag Team: The God and the King – Lastly we’ve got an 8-minute featurette that self-explanatorily showcases the teaming up of Kong and Godzilla against Mecha-Godzilla.

Warner Bros. Pictures Presents Godzilla vs. Kong. Directed by: Adam Wingard. Written by: Eric Pearson, Max Borenstein. Starring: Godzilla, King Kong, Millie Bobby Brown, Alexander Skarsgård, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Kyle Chandler, Kaylee Hottle, Julian Dennison. Running time: 113 Minutes. Rating: PG. Released on 4K Blu-ray: June. 15, 2021.

Brendan Campbell was here when Inside Pulse Movies began, and he’ll be here when it finishes - in 2012, when a cataclysmic event wipes out the servers, as well as everyone else on the planet other than John Cusack and those close to him. Brendan’s the #1 supporter of Keanu Reeves, a huge fan of popcorn flicks and a firm believer that sheer entertainment can take a film a long way. He currently resides in Canada, where, for reasons stated above, he’s attempting to get closer to John Cusack.