Kong v. Godzilla has been one of the most anticipated movies of 2021. First hinted at in the post-credits scene of 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters, the showdown between Godzilla and King Kong has been something people have been waiting for for a long time. Between people making TikToks ranging from serious discussions on who would win to jokes poking fun at either side, people have been wondering for a long time who would win. The problem is, Godzilla vs. Kong never really delivers all that much on the title’s promise.

Godzilla v. Kong’s main weakness is that it focuses too much on characters that to be frank, nobody really cares all that much about. While you can’t blame the movie-makers for wanting to tell a story, these characters are bland and forgettable,Most of the movie feels as if they exist to move the plot from one set piece to another, giving way for fights in separate places and locales. This isn’t even asking for the movie to solely be a half hour long montage of monsters fighting however. The characters aren’t forgettable simply because they aren’t huge monsters, they’re forgettable because they’re not written well. Only having watched the movie a few days ago, I couldn’t tell you what the name of any of the characters are, and for the most part, I couldn’t tell you what their motivations are either. 

The movie, from almost the very start, sets up a recurring theme of corporations exploiting nature, and by extension, the titular characters, in order to further their agenda. This explains attacks on the antagonistic company by the monsters to be retribution for unknown experiments, but this theme is barely expanded on throughout the whole movie. The theme only really comes back at the end for a weird plot twist at the very end of the movie. The themes are very all over the place and without proper focus, so no one message really has enough time to sit and begin to develop. 

Its main strength, however, is definitely the action. You can tell that its 150 million dollar budget went mostly towards its CGI, which is very detailed and not quite lifelike, but definitely impressive. Every fight is a spectacle, and definitely some of the best moments of the movie.

Ultimately, Kong vs Godzilla is much like a roller coaster ride; the most thrilling moments shine, but those that don’t feel like nothing more than anticipation to those moments of action. Its plot is largely uninteresting and forgettable, but the fight scenes almost make up for it, giving you something to gawk at.