Godzilla Vs. Kong [Blu-Ray]

Director: Adam Wingard

Cast: Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall

Release Date: June 15, 2021

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 9/10
Disc Rating: 8/10

Synopsis:

Kong and his protectors undertake a perilous journey to find his true home, and with them is Jia, a young orphaned girl with whom he has formed a unique and powerful bond. But they unexpectedly find themselves in the path of an enraged Godzilla, cutting a swath of destruction across the globe. The epic clash between the two titans—instigated by unseen forces—is only the beginning of the mystery that lies deep within the core of the Earth.

Please Note: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Post. The opinions I share are my own.

The two biggest stars of the MonsterVerse saga collide in ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ which joins a team of specialists who take Kong out of his captivity in the hope that he can lead them to a remarkable discovery. Unfortunately, by releasing Kong into the open world for the journey it attracts the attention of Godzilla who has been taking out seemingly specific research facilities but has no problem taking a break from his curiously pinpointed new quest of destruction in order to combat Kong for a massive fight unlike anything the world has yet to see; with both determined to prove themselves as the dominant creature. But are these two Titans really the enemy of each other or does a more dangerous threat loom elsewhere while they are distracted with their ancient rivalry?

Directed this time around by Adam Wingard (The Guest, You’re Next) from a screenplay by Eric Pearson (Thor: Ragnarok) and Max Borenstein (Kong: Skull Island), and an initial story by Terry Rossio, Michael Dougherty and Zach Shields, Wingard does a fantastic job at the helm of ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ capturing the powerful clash and stunning action with real style. The film also features a cast that includes a number of talented folks, including Alexander Skarsgård (TV’s The Stand 2020), Millie Bobby Brown (Godzilla: King of the Monsters), Rebecca Hall (A Rainy Day in New York), Brian Tyree Henry (TV’s Atlanta), Shun Ogur (No Longer Human), Eiza González (Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw), Julian Dennison (Deadpool 2), Kyle Chandler (Super 8) and Demián Bichir (The Hateful Eight) along with more, each providing fitting performances overall in their respective roles; especially considering that we all know the human characters here are by no means the true stars of the film.

‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ is an action-packed, visually spectacular and just incredibly fun clash between these two Titans that is also probably the best entry yet in the MonsterVerse franchise. It delivers almost precisely what fans have wanted, big bad monster dueling action with less focus on the human characters and the result is quite the epic event, particularly the stunning fights between the title characters which never even come remotely close to disappointing. The action and set pieces constantly dazzle as does the destruction and debris arising from the clashes between the two biggest forces around. The impressive effects utilized also do wonders to make this one so rewarding, particularly the emotion that always seems to be radiating from Kong in everything from his facial expressions to something as simple as the way his eyes track his surroundings; and make no mistake, while Godzilla isn’t sidelined so to speak, this is certainly a story far more centered around Kong. Add to the mix the great guidance of filmmaker Adam Wingard and a capable cast that has no trouble making the human focused scenes more enjoyable (or at the absolute least tolerable), it’s a wild, gorgeous and grin inducing new chapter in the MonsterVerse saga that fans definitely won’t want to miss out on. I would strongly urge anyone who enjoys Godzilla and/or Kong in general to out of your way to check out ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ whenever possible. It’s a wildly enjoyable and visually gorgeous ride that is well worth taking.

Overall, ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ is a visually stunning and action fueled clash between the two lead Titans that delivers a pair of unforgettable showdowns between these two powerful forces that will leave fans with a grin plastered to their face throughout. It also does a nice job of building upon some previously touched on elements of the overall MonsterVerse saga and building the larger scope of these tales. Director Adam Wingard additionally brings an almost cartoon-like approach to some of the sequences that work far better than we might have expected before witnessing them. All in all, it’s a wonderful addition to the franchise and quite likely also the best entry so far. ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ is definitely highly recommended, especially for those who have been following the ‘MonsterVerse’ saga since it kicked off with 2014’s ‘Godzilla’ and only seems to improve as it builds with each subsequent film in the series.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation with the film’s original 2.39:1 Cinemascope Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks pretty great as a whole and offers up a clean, vividly colored and well detailed presentation from start to finish that doesn’t suffer from any noticeable issues or problems along the way. It holds up admirably even during the various fast moving, heavily populated and darkly lit sequences throughout, never causing anything that’s occurring onscreen to become negatively affected or rendered indiscernible. Overall, this is a solid high definition video presentation that shouldn’t have any trouble pleasing fans and newcomers alike.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 channel compatible) soundtrack. Please note that this review pertains solely to the Dolby TrueHD 7.1 audio presentation. This multichannel soundtrack is nothing short of spectacular, serving up a crisp, clean and consistently hard hitting audio presentation throughout. It constantly takes full advantage of all seven available channels in order to send the titans stomping, swimming and clashing, as well as debris, vehicle activity and a great deal more zipping throughout the various speakers regularly, and never allowing any dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously to become distorted or rendered inaudible in the process. Overall, this is a magnificent Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible) soundtrack that is an absolute treat from start to finish and should easily thrill viewers.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ features a nice collection of bonus content that fans should appreciate. Included on the release is an ‘Audio Commentary with Director Adam Wingard’, along with a number of Behind the Scenes Featurettes exploring different aspects of bringing the film to life and discussing the franchise as a whole; they include ‘Godzilla Attacks’ (running approximately 6 minutes in length), ‘The Phenomenon of Gojira, King of the Monsters’ (running approximately 10 minutes), ‘Kong Leaves Home’ (approximately 8 minutes), ‘Kong Discovers Hollow Earth’ (8 minutes), ‘Behold Kong’s Temple’ (6 minutes), ‘The Evolution of Kong, Eighth Wonder of the World’ (8 minutes) and ‘The Rise of MechaGodzilla’ (7 minutes). Also included is ‘The Battles’ which is broken down into three segments, one focused on each of the film’s key battles, they include ‘Round One: Battle at Sea’ (approximately 5 minutes), ‘Round Two: One Will Fall’ (6 minutes) and ‘Titan Tag Team: The God and The King’ (8 minutes).

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Film Rating: 9/10
Disc Rating: 8/10

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‘Godzilla Vs. Kong’ is Now Available to Own on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD & Digital from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

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