The long-awaited battle between the two alpha titans has finally occurred and it did not disappoint. The sci-fi, action thriller “Godzilla vs. Kong” had its premiere on Wednesday, March 31, and with its positive reception, it is on its way to being the highest-rated movie of the year. With the streaming release on HBO Max, fans can enjoy the spectacle from the comfort of their own homes. 

Watching Kong and Godzilla duke it out on screen was everything fans have been waiting for since the inception of the monster-verse. The movie starts off with a calm and relaxed vibe showing where Kong is as of his last movie, but soon the audience realizes things aren’t as they seem. Don’t let the smooth music fool you, the movie doesn’t waste any time in showing the strength and awe of Godzilla putting the audience straight into a battle between him and APEX Cybernetics company, the consequential bad guys of this movie. 

After years of improvement with technology fans now can see how beautiful and how far CGI is, from the rugged and scaly edge of Godzilla’s face and body to the well-groomed fur and expressive face of Kong, these two have never looked better. 

The musical score is a primarily instrumental affair with techno influences that help show off the grandness and overwhelming fight scenes. There are a few different songs including “Over the Mountain Across the Sea” by Bobby Vinton to help match scenes and set the tone to the wide shot of Kong traveling the sea. Overall Godzilla was scaled well to match his surroundings and didn’t look out of place in his vital fight scenes, but Kong was treated a bit haphazardly going from looking the same size as Godzilla in their fight to looking slightly smaller when being transported. However, it is not such an issue as to ruin the movie. 

While a majority of people only came to experience a cacophony of alpha titan vs. alpha titan action, that really doesn’t excuse the paper-thin characters on screen. With all the praise going to the main monster leads, there need to be human cast members there to witness the mayhem.

The main characters had as much depth as a dinner plate and just as much personality. Jia played by Kaylee Hottle is the little girl who was close to Kong in his previous movie Kong: Skull Islands, and while she is a cute and sympathetic character, she is used constantly as a Deux Ex Machina throughout the movie whenever Kong is needed to do something to further the plot. If the screenwriters had taken some time to add more dimensions to the characters, then it would have been somewhat better.

The directors could have spent additional time explaining the characters’ motivations other than making vague passes at motivations and using one-dimensional dialogue. There could also have been further highlights on the people who were affected by Godzilla and Kong’s fight, but there really was no lingering on the loss of human lives. People who weren’t the main characters were disposable and forgettable, to say the least.

While “Godzilla vs. Kong” has its flaws, they can be overlooked. The movie earns an overall 4 out of 5 stars. The real draw is the action, watching the two behemoth alpha titans finally face off, and the cinematic shots of them on screen are more than enough to make up for the human cast members’ shortcomings.