Monke v. Nuke Lizard: Dawn of Exposition! A Godzilla vs. Kong review! - Home Theater #6

Tonight, on a very MONSTEROUS episode of Home Theater, Mike and the Streamin’ Demon man the podcast tower as the Kaiju monsters emerge from the depths to conquer or defend humanity! The latest Home Theater episode features our official review of HBO Max's Godzilla vs. Kong! Plus a retrospective on the Monsterverse as a whole, with discussions about 2014's Godzilla, Kong: Skull Island, and Godzilla: King of the Monsters!

How’s it going, fellow Renegades? The Director is back to bring you the most slamming show notes your little retinas can barely handle, with verbage to set your synapses spinnin’!

Now I know what you’re thinking: Josh, why are you sounding like a discount wrestling promoter who Vince McMahon would toss off like nobody’s business? Well, that’s because today we’re discussion a clash of the titans — two huge horror icons in the kaiju and monster genres respectfully — as they go toe to toe in the biggest blockbuster event of the year (so far…): Godzilla vs. Kong!

While I’ll admit that I actually haven’t peeped any of the Monsterverse films that have released SO FAR (which I will change soon with Kong: Skull Island), luckily I’ve come prepared with blurbs from our Animation Captain himself. Here’s a quick rundown of all things Monsterverse!

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Godzilla (2014)

“I never wrote a Letterboxd review for Godzilla (2014), but to basically paraphrase my thoughts as mentioned in the recording, I enjoyed the movie well enough as a throwback to the original 1954 Gojira, and while the human characters weren't compelling, it's that final conflict in the third act that made the experience worth it.“ - THE CAPTAIN

KONG: SKULL ISLAND (2017)

“The easiest thing to criticize in this film would be the screenplay, written by Dan Gilroy, Max Borenstein and Derek Connolly. If those names sound familiar, two of those writers also worked on Godzilla '14 and Jurassic World respectively. What all three movies have in common is that they all toss character development out the window in place of great action scenes and some impressive visual effects. Everyone in the cast is great, but the standouts for sure were John C. Reilly, Brie Larson and Tom Hiddleston. If you're on the fence about seeing Kong: Skull Island but you liked what you saw in the trailers, then just go and have a good time.“ - THE CAPTAIN

Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)

“Godzilla: King of the Monsters is, for better or worse, a significant improvement on what die hard fans did not like about the previous installment from 2014. That doesn't make this one perfect, in fact there's one major handicap that prevents me from totally loving it, but everything around that bump in the road was absolutely worth it. I'm just not a fan in general of pitting humans against each other in a monster movie, when the only real threat should be the monster! Overall, the film was still a fantastic experience for all the things that needed to work. Western filmmakers have yet to give us the perfect Godzilla movie, but this is at least a step in the right direction.“ - THE CAPTAIN

Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)

“Here's the thing: this movie is stupid with two O's, and yet I enjoyed watching it from start to finish! Out of all the Monsterverse films, it's probably the weakest in terms of its story, but it absolutely delivers on the action and the spectacle of it all. I don't know if Snyder's Justice League has spoiled me, but this movie felt a little too short, and leaned a little too much in Kong's favor for my liking. That being said, as a sequel to Kong: Skull Island, this was awesome. The action sequences were incredible, Ben Seresin's cinematography was gorgeous, especially during the Hallow Earth scenes, and of course Tom Holkenborg's score was amazing! If you're in the mood for a simple Kaiju beat 'em up, Godzilla vs. Kong delivers the goods.” - THE CAPTAIN

And thus, we’ve reached the end of another Home Theater showcase! Thanks for joining us, and be on the lookout for more exciting content on the way, including more Fresh Takes and the next Animation podcast! Be safe, Renegades, and we’ll catch ya later!