Godzilla vs. Kong, the newest entry in Warner Bros’ MonsterVerse, pits the two mightiest Titans in the franchise against each other. The sequel to 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters, as well as to 2017’s Kong: Skull Island, the film packs insane fight sequences and leaves the audience in awe with the jaw-dropping scale of each moment involving either titular character.

The film begins with Kong in confinement on Skull Island, under the watchful eyes of the secret science group, Monarch. Kong lives there with a young girl named Jia (Kaylee Hottle), the last native to the island, who is Deaf and communicates with Kong through sign language. The perspective switches to Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry), an engineer in the new tech company, Apex Cybernetics. He is an adamant conspiracy theorist and believes Apex is up to sinister activity within their Florida-based headquarters.

While he investigates, Godzilla suddenly attacks the facility, only increasing Bernie’s suspicions. Madison Russel (Millie Bobby Brown), a returning character from Godzilla: King of the Monsters, has the same suspicions as Bernie and drives with her friend Josh (Julian Dennison) to meet with Bernie.

While this happens, the CEO of Apex Cybernetics, Walter Simmons (Demián Bichir), recruits Nathan Lind (Alexander Skarsgard), a scientist believing in the “Hollow Earth Theory,” to head a research expedition to find an energy source within the Hollow Earth, the original home of the Titans. He agrees and brings Kong on the journey to lead the crew into the Earth. With Kong released into the world, Godzilla hunts him, to settle the battle of alpha predator once and for all.

The amazing computer generated-imagery (CGI) is a noteworthy aspect of the film, as it has been for all of the MonsterVerse films. The ultra-realistic look of both Kong and Godzilla is shocking and they seem as if they truly are in the environment that surrounds them, whether it be rain, snow or in the blistering sun. Each scale and speck of fur is rendered beautifully and it only heightens the thrilling experience.

The greatest strength of Godzilla vs. Kong is the outright fun that it brings to the silver screen. It cements itself immediately as one of the most, if not the most, entertaining films of 2021. Fight scenes are majestic, to say the least, and to see two gigantic beings, one a radioactive dinosaur and the other a humongous monkey, duke it out on naval fleets, in Hong Kong and in the center of the Earth, is just awesome. The fun-factor is turned up to 100 with the confrontation of two of the biggest pop-culture icons in history, and Godzilla vs. Kong definitely delivers with its array of radioactive breath beams and gigantic axes.   

The music is another highlight of the film, as every fight scene is accompanied by a thrilling track to bring viewers even closer to the edges of their seats. Composer Tom Holkenborg, a huge fan of Godzilla, makes an outstanding original soundtrack, giving both Godzilla and Kong new, exciting themes to build up until the moment they meet. With loud, roaring brass for Godzilla and a lighter, more energetic brass for Kong, the two themes clash until the climax of battle.

Color in cinematography is another trend throughout the MonsterVerse that carries into Godzilla vs. Kong, as both the settings of Hollow Earth and Hong Kong are shot and lit stunningly. Especially the latter, with the plethora of neon lights on buildings creating a glamorous techno-city for Kong and Godzilla to duel in. The contrast of Godzilla’s atomic blue and Kong’s burnt red is implemented throughout the film, creating a very visually pleasing contrast between the two Titans.

Godzilla vs. Kong is one of the greatest action films of 2021 so far. Anyone who has the opportunity to watch it should set aside a few hours to be awed by such a thrilling film.