Godzilla vs. Kong Early Reactions Praise Monster Battles, Criticize Human Story

The first reactions to Legendary’s Godzilla vs. Kong are out and they pretty much echo similar sentiments. Critics have showered praise on the monster-on-monster battles between the two titans Godzilla and Kong, stating that it delivers awesomeness on a grand scale. The human story meanwhile has received criticism in terms of them seamlessly blending into the main plot or making any sort of impact.

Erik Davis of Forbes heaps praise on the monster brawls, calling them well designed. He wasn’t a fan of Godzilla: King of the Monsters calling its plot confusing while having trouble following the fights. In his rankings of the Godzilla movies, he ranked Godzilla vs. Kong at the top and King of the Monsters as his least favorite.

I've seen #GodzillaVsKong and it is grade-A awesome! The monster brawls are badass & beautiful — huge fights, all well designed & super gnarly. Solid story, strong cast, really good score. A true Midnight Monster Movie & my favorite of the four modern Godzilla/Kong movies. pic.twitter.com/zkEhbvS9pf
— Erik Davis (@ErikDavis) March 21, 2021

Perri Nemiroff of Collider echoed a similar statement: the fights are awesome but the humans still don’t mesh as well as they should have or could have.

As expected – and probably as it should be – the titan fights are the best parts of #GodzillaVsKong . Adam Wingard definitely has the eye to make the most of those moments! Still don't think they've nailed how to incorporate human characters, but the top-notch ensemble helps. pic.twitter.com/ttpmNJOElo
— Perri Nemiroff (@PNemiroff) March 21, 2021

Mike Ryan of Uproxx was also vocal about his disdain for King of the Monsters and doesn’t look like he loved Godzilla vs. Kong either. However, granting credit where it’s due, he termed the movie’s fights as coherent and easy to follow compared to its predecessor.

I absolutely hated the prior Godzilla movie. So here’s the utmost praise I can give a movie like GODZILLA V. KONG: it is a coherent movie with daytime fights and I could always see what was going on. I truly mean that as a compliment.
— Mike Ryan (@mikeryan) March 21, 2021

The general early buzz then, from the looks of it, is that Godzilla vs. Kong knew what its focus should be: the fights. And it seems to have nailed that well, making them easy to follow and more memorable. One of the reviews describes three battles between the titans which could be the sea sequence and neon-tinted city fight seen in the trailers as well as a final battle with Mechagodzilla.

Personally, that’s kinda bad news for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the conspiracy plot of Godzilla: King of the Monsters and the entire angle of eco-terrorists wanting to unleash monsters to wipe out the human race and restore natural balance made perfect sense in the context of the MonsterVerse, as ludicrous as it sounds on paper. Michael Dougherty did a commendable job making each titan appear as a genuine threat or loving creature as the case may be and delivered epic sequences and visuals that served as a visual feast.

Having said that, I’m not the sort that prefers only one kind of movie so I’ll be approaching Godzilla vs. Kong with an open mind. It would genuinely suck though if, after King of the Monsters, we end up with something more like Rampage in terms of storyline. The action in that Dwayne Johnson movie again was genuinely exciting but the human characters were the epitome of cookie-cutter cardboard-cutouts.

Godzilla vs. Kong releases in theaters and on HBO Max in the US on Mar 31. It arrives internationally a week earlier on Mar 26.