STAR RATING: ***** Brilliant **** Very Good *** Okay ** Poor * Awful
In a futuristic world, the two big screen titans, Godzilla and King Kong, exist separately on Earth, with Godzilla roaming around with the humans, while Kong exists among his fellow primates on 'Hollow Earth.' "As long as they remain in their territories, everything should be fine", says scientist Iilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall.) So, needless to say, things don't, and her adopted daughter, Jila (Kaylee Hotton) starts sketching disturbing images, leading to a journey to ME, and a confrontation with Kong's nemesis, The Scar King.
We've had Alien Vs. Predator! Batman Vs. Superman! And now, director Adam Wingard has delivered a show down between two of cinema's most notable gigantic beasts. Well, there could have been a worse excuse to have them smash everything up. The irony that may be lost on the filmmakers is that there isn't actually much in any way of an actual showdown at all, but enough stamping around and battling with other creatures to distract everyone from this. But not quite enough to gloss over all the flaws.
If nothing else, the film is an alluring visual spectacle, reminiscent of Peter Jackson's 2005 re-imagining of the original 1930's film, the magic of which I can still remember. The central cast fit their roles suitably enough, with young actress Hottle particularly worthy as the troubled girl at the centre of all the hoo-hah, with a decent enough supporting cast, including Dan Stevens as a 'trippy hippy, Ace Ventura' mercenary, and Brian Tyree Henry in the 'expert who wasn't listened to' cliched role, but none of the performances are anything to match any of the effects or action sequences.
There's a lot of roaring and swinging and smashing, the sort of which would look great with a pair of 3D specs. But it wouldn't be wise to expect any more than that. **
In a futuristic world, the two big screen titans, Godzilla and King Kong, exist separately on Earth, with Godzilla roaming around with the humans, while Kong exists among his fellow primates on 'Hollow Earth.' "As long as they remain in their territories, everything should be fine", says scientist Iilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall.) So, needless to say, things don't, and her adopted daughter, Jila (Kaylee Hotton) starts sketching disturbing images, leading to a journey to ME, and a confrontation with Kong's nemesis, The Scar King.
We've had Alien Vs. Predator! Batman Vs. Superman! And now, director Adam Wingard has delivered a show down between two of cinema's most notable gigantic beasts. Well, there could have been a worse excuse to have them smash everything up. The irony that may be lost on the filmmakers is that there isn't actually much in any way of an actual showdown at all, but enough stamping around and battling with other creatures to distract everyone from this. But not quite enough to gloss over all the flaws.
If nothing else, the film is an alluring visual spectacle, reminiscent of Peter Jackson's 2005 re-imagining of the original 1930's film, the magic of which I can still remember. The central cast fit their roles suitably enough, with young actress Hottle particularly worthy as the troubled girl at the centre of all the hoo-hah, with a decent enough supporting cast, including Dan Stevens as a 'trippy hippy, Ace Ventura' mercenary, and Brian Tyree Henry in the 'expert who wasn't listened to' cliched role, but none of the performances are anything to match any of the effects or action sequences.
There's a lot of roaring and swinging and smashing, the sort of which would look great with a pair of 3D specs. But it wouldn't be wise to expect any more than that. **