There’s been a LOT of King Kong. His origin story has been told at least three times, along with sequels and reimaginings. But if there’s anyone that has even *more* films about him or connected to him, it’s Godzilla. Even though Kong’s first appearance predates the big G by 20 years, the Lizard God has more than caught up in content.
Oh, not all of it’s been good– for either one. There was a whole run of comical misadventures where Godzilla was played for goofiness. In the original King Kong vs Godzilla back in the ’60’s, Kong was also dragged down into the embarrassing muck. Cringeworthy. Yet there was also a bit of goofy fun for some. Godzooky!
We tried an American version of Godzilla in the late ’90’s, starring Matthew Broderick, which we shouldn’t have done. Listen, mistakes have been made over the many decades. Peter Jackson did his 2005 Kong remake and it was technically brilliant, and loooong.
In 2014, we took another shot at bringing a Monsterverse together, starting with Godzilla. Originally, I went into this with certain preconceived notions–which I should never do– and that backfired on me. Upon a second watch, I liked it a lot more than I did originally. This was followed up in 2017 with Kong: Skull island, then Godzilla: King of the Monsters in ’19 and then GVK in ’21. The SFX throughout were top notch. Excellent.
Now, the biggest hurdle in any Kaiju movie is the quality of the scenes containing the pesky humans. Well, good effects, action, and the humans. I contend that this series does a pretty decent job of presenting the human element, and making their contributions valuable–some, more than others, but still. They also sport a decent guest cast. In fact, off the top of my head, over the course of the four films, Charles Dance, Tom Hiddleston, John C. Reilly, Samuel Jackson, Millie Bobby Brown, John Goodman, and many more.
Across all four films, there is a tangential connection that builds and grows stronger, telling us about all these giant monsters who used to walk the land and were masters of the planet. The two biggest alphas were Kong and Godzilla. Then we get to the title match in Godzilla vs Kong. This is THE heavyweight bout. It’s already established in the Skull island film that Kong is much larger than the old version, who was a mere 50 feet, so this Titan would already be a size match for Godzilla. However, even though this monkey packs the most devastating punch of the bunch, he still has to deal with G’s claws, tail, and worst of all, nuclear breath.
Still, it is an epic battle, which provides a couple encounters throughout the film, culminating in a big brouhaha at the end, which tactically, and entertainingly, is very well done. No, I’m not spoiling anything. If you want to immerse yourself in this Monsterverse, I’d say either grab the blu-rays, or if you have HBOMAX, they have them all in there.
Now, as far as allegiance, it’s funny, because sure, Godzilla is over all more deadly, with a lot more weapons at his disposal, and the bigger cinema profile. But Kong is just a big, and at times, lovable monkey, and a bit of an underdog in a head to head battle. Maybe it’s the underdog thing, or maybe I’m just a specist who likes my primate over the lizard? I know a few high profile, hard core Godzilla fans, who actually have a bit more love for Kong. Go figure. Anyway, I’m team Kong.
As for the best Kong film, honestly, I’d go with the 1933 original because it’s really a technical marvel in its own right, especially for 1933. It’s chilling, scary and thrilling–and the black and white film only enhances that. Do yourself a favor and find a digitally remastered cut of it. After that, I think Kong: Skull Island is a good choice, with an excellent guest cast.
Maybe the best over all Godzilla flick ever done though is Shin Godzilla from 2016. It hits all the right notes and frankly, delivers the best, or at least most lethal and well realized version of the character. It’s unconnected to any of the Monsterverse films, but it does have important ties to the original 1954 film, which was also brilliantly done. If you can catch the original ’54 Japanese version, that would be my other choice.
Shin Godzilla also takes an unusual approach to the human element, in that they deal with the behind the scenes actions of the government as it reacts to the appearance of the monster. It’s quite intense and times, well constructed, and a realistic byproduct of the events.
So… you have your assignments. Go, run free!
GET YOUR KAIJU ON!
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