If you'd like to be surprised by the Godzilla vs. Kong film, I don't recommend you to watch the trailer, because by 0:10, it starts to gives away parts of the plot.
Godzilla vs. Kong, movie (2021) - Watch the trailer on YouTube
video © Warner Entertainment (AT&T)
Article updated: 2022.08.29
The Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) is a fantasy action/adventure film. The movie was reviewed by Kadmon.
Product: Godzilla vs. Kong, movie (2021)
Original title: Godzilla vs. Kong
Series: MonsterVerse
Previous movies: Godzilla (2014), Kong: Skull Island (2017), Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)
Other adaptations of the story: King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)
Setting: alternate Earth (MonsterVerse)
Product type: Film, Genre: fantasy / action / adventure, Style: sci-fi, fantasy, action, adventure
Release: 2021.03.24
Reviewer: Kadmon, Type: Male, 40s, Preferences: Immersive, logical story, consistent setting, prefers surprises to spoilers, prefers establishing elements before referencing them
Watched: very recent (2021.04), first time
Rating: Weak (2- out of 3 points), Enjoyment: Average (2 out of 3 points)
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Godzilla vs. Kong is a fantasy action/adventure movie from 2021. It's about scientists, who get hired by a corporation that tries to use Kong to gain access to a secret energy source they want to use to be able to defeat Godzilla. The Godzilla vs. Kong film is not very interesting, I only recommend it to avid fans of kaiju movies.
Godzilla vs. Kong, movie (2021)
image © Warner Entertainment (AT&T)
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Review (spoiler-free) - Godzilla vs. Kong, movie (2021)
I probably knew that Godzilla vs Kong is in development, but it took me by surprise when review sites started to talk about the movie. I decided to watch it so tidbits of information won't spoil the movie for me, and after I watch it, I'll be able to freely read those review sites without being afraid. I don't think I have seen the full trailer, but I have seen parts of it, or at least some stills.
I've seen the previous installments of the series, but I was far from impressed from those. I didn't have high expectations for Godzilla vs Kong. I haven't seen the original King Kong vs. Godzilla.
The Godzilla vs. Kong movie is about scientists, who get hired by a corporation that tries to use Kong to gain access to a secret energy source they want to use to be able to defeat Godzilla.
There's practically no story at all beyond the more concept of getting the title characters fight each other. Nothing that happens in the movie changes the status quo. There are no character arcs, and there's no internal logic. If you are satisfied with watching monsters fight each other twice in a two hour movie, you might enjoy this.
Visually the movie is good. When action happens, you are mostly able to see what is happening, and you can follow who is winning. The special effects look great.
The characters are bland, we don't get to know anything about them, and they don't have anything about them beyond mere stereotypes. Some of them doesn't even have anything to do, they just stand in the background. There are no character arcs beyond two shallow arcs for Godzilla and Kong. I get it that they are the main characters in a movie named after them, but there were plenty of good actors in the cast that could have used their screentime more useful with a better script. Rebecca Hall is probably the only one who got some chance to act, but Millie Bobby Brown spends her time looking baffled, and Alexander Skarsgård is just standing in the background. All characters get a brief introduction.
The music (by Tom Holkenborg) is okay, it fits the story, but not memorable.
The Godzilla vs. Kong film has some good moments, some bad moments, it's a pretty average movie.
My experience
I was not satisfied with Godzilla vs. Kong (2021), I found it boring and stupid.
Rating: Weak (2- out of 3 points). As an action film, there are long boring stretches in the movie. As a non-action film, it's very incoherent and illogical.
Enjoyment: Average (2 out of 3 points). Although the lack of logic bothered me, Godzilla vs. Kong was okay to watch.
Rewatchability: I'm not sure. I think it's the action scenes that makes you feel interested, but there's not that many of that in this movie.
Chance of watching it again: Nope. I've seen it once, that was just enough for me.
Chance of watching a sequel: I'm not very enthusiastic about it, but I'd probably watch it.
Godzilla vs. Kong, movie (2021)
image © Warner Entertainment (AT&T)
Will you enjoy this?
If you like to watch monsters destroying man-made objects (Godzilla, Pacific Rim), you could find Godzilla vs. Kong interesting.
If you like to see monsters bashing each other, you might like the Godzilla vs. Kong, as there are some scenes when they do that.
If you like fantasy adventures, explorations, there are some elements of this in the Godzilla vs. Kong.
If you prefer logic and science in your monster movies, this film is not for you.
Do you need to see the previous films to enjoy this?
I don't think so. If you choose to watch this movie, you probably already know who Godzilla and Kong are. If you don't, and you are really interested, you might watch one of the Godzilla and Kong movies, probably those from the current MonsterVerse series. Otherwise, you won't need any information from those movies to understand what's happening in Godzilla vs. Kong.
Watching for plot points
If you are interested in monster movies, there might be some interesting ideas in this film. Especially if you are invested in the universe of Godzilla, I think it's worth watching the Godzilla vs. Kong movie for the plot points.
Godzilla vs. Kong, movie (2021)
image © Warner Entertainment (AT&T)
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Review with spoilers - Godzilla vs. Kong, movie (2021)
The title of the movie really spells the story out, and that's all you get from this movie. Although, I have to admit that the movie seems biased towards Kong.
I've seen the previous films in the series. But even with this knowledge, I had absolutely no idea where would the creators go with this film. I assumed that Godzilla will battle Kong, probably in urban areas, like in the earlier incarnation of the story. I wouldn't have been surprised if their fight would have involved a train. But that was about all of my expectations.
In the end, I was not satisfied with the movie. It's almost two hours long, and we didn't get any interesting to watch, just two kaiju fights, or three if you count the Mechagodzilla fight a separate one. In the end, Godzilla learns to respect Kong, and Kong learns that Godzilla is not an enemy. And this is the only two character development we get in the film, as characters are either unchanged, or they die when they would get a chance to change (the Apex boss, the daughter of the boss, and the Mechagodzilla pilot).
I had a bad feeling in the beginning, that the movie will treat technology as they did in Jurassic Park, but I think it's even worse here. Crichton was not stupid, he just didn't understand what he was writing about. I had a feeling that the writers of this movie are not as clever as he was.
Movie posters
The posters for the movie are good. They don't really show anything related to the plot, but we see either Godzilla or Kong, standing in the ruins of a city. We know that this will happen anyway, but this is a nice reminder.
Trailer
The trailer gives away parts of the plot, so I don't recommend it to those who'd prefer to avoid major spoilers. If you prefer to have spoilers, then it's a great trailer.
Promise of the first scene
The first scene starts sweetly, with a little girl and Kong, then Kong hurls a tree to break the wall of the containment facility. The next scene gives exposition that Godzilla will hunt down Kong if he leaves the island.
First, I hope there won't be a love story between the little girl and Kong. Second, I fear that the story will have some message about "nature is better than technology", or "science is stupid / evil", because they should have clearly created a containment facility that could contain Kong, and not give him a chance to break out. So, this is a bad start for me.
I'm pretty sure that Kong will escape, probably leaves the island, so Godzilla will come to fight him. By the end of the film, I assume that he will defeat his captors, and the island will be his own again.
Execution: Well, in the end we got most of these. The little girl played a role through the whole movie. Kong got out, even though he didn't break out as I expected, but he was let out by the scientists, and instead of conquering back Skull Island, he found a new home in the Hollow Earth. There was also a stupid plotline about scientists handling things badly, and using technology for selfish evil deeds.
Plot summary / Synopsis
Kong is on Skull Island, in a containment facility. A scientist woman (Rebecca Hall as Dr. Ilene Andrews) is guarding him, with a girl (Kaylee Hottle as Jia).
There's a conspiracy nut (Brian Tyree Henry as Bernie Hayes) who works in the USA in a science facility (Apex), who steals data from the system. Godzilla comes nearby, and starts attacking the city. The science facility gets damaged, and the conspiracy nut finds some strange device.
We see a schoolgirl (Millie Bobby Brown as Madison Russell), listening to the conspiracy nut's podcast about the attack. She is the daughter of some kind of leader (Kyle Chandler as Dr. Mark Russell).
Apex hires a scientist (Alexander Skarsgård as Dr. Nathan Lind) to lead them into the Hollow Earth, so they could find a way to defeat Godzilla. He agrees, and demands that they also recruit the scientist woman, who works on Skull Island. They put Kong on a boat, and sail him to Antartica, so he could find a way to enter the Hollow Earth. They find it out that Kong is able to use sign language to communicate.
Godzilla attacks the ship convoy that carries Kong. Godzilla destroys most of the ships, except the one the protagonists are on, and fights with Kong. (Although later it seems there are more ships again.) When Kong falls down, they switch off the engines, and this convinces Godzilla that he has beaten them, so he leaves.
The schoolgirl and her friend (Julian Dennison as Josh Valentine) meets with the conspiracy nut to break into the Apex HQ. They theorise that Godzilla attacks the cities again because of Apex's research. When they hide from security, they get locked into a crate with skullcrawler eggs, and get sent to Hong Kong through a Hollow Earth tunnel.
Kong is brought to Antartica. Kong goes into the cave, the scientist, the scientist woman, and the mute girl follow him in anti-gravity planes. In the Hollow Earth, Kong is attacked by flying creatures (Warbats), but he defeats them. Kong finds a source of energy, and the Apex people scans a sample, so they can power up Mechagodzilla. Kong finds a magic axe.
The conspiracy nut, the schoolgirl and his friend arrive, and they get into an arena, where Apex is testing Mechagodzilla against skullcrawlers. They get out, but get captures by Apex security.
Godzilla arrives in Hong Kong and shoots a beam into the Earth, barely missing Kong in the Hollow Earth. As they try to escape, every human dies except the three protagonists, who fly to the surface. Kong climbs up to Hong Kong through the tunnel Godzilla's blast made. Kong uses his magic axe to fight Godzilla. Godzilla beats Kong, then leaves him alone.
When Mechagodzilla gets the special energy source, it takes on sentience, and starts to destroy the facility without a pilot. It crawls out to fight Godzilla, and starts to beat him. The scientist decides to electrocute the beaten Kong, so Kong joins to fight on Godzilla's side. Kong defeats Mechagodzilla with the magic axe. Godzilla gets back to the ocean.
Kong gets back to the Hollow Earth.
The setting
The story is set in the MonsterVerse, a contemporary alternate Earth.
There are underground tunnels, connecting every part of the world. There are giant monsters living in those caves. Gravity is changed when they enter the tunnels, crushing anybody. They created a technology that negates gravity.
Apex is either using these underground tunnels to move cargo with AG crafts, or dug their own tunnels for that. There's a tunnel leading from Florida to Hong Kong.
On Skull Island, a storm has killed all the natives, except the mute girl.
By the end of the story, there's a giant hole in the middle of Hong Kong, that leads directly to the energy source Kong uses. I'm not sure how stable the walls of the tunnel are, but unless they seal it really well, the monsters from Hollow Earth are able to come for a snack any time.
 image © Warner Entertainment (AT&T) |
Kong seems to be allied with humans, but he doesn't care if humans die when he throws them at Godzilla, or stomps on them. Kong can withstand a Godzilla blast with his magic axe. One second of Godzilla's ray blast harms him, but doesn't cause serious injury. Electrocuting Kong makes him heal? (In the original King Kong vs. Godzilla, Kong was given power by electricity, just like radioactivity empowers Godzilla, but in this series, I don't remember seeing this.) When powered up by Godzilla's blast, his magic axe is able to dismember Mechagodzilla, otherwise it doesn't injure it. Apex is able to sedate Kong to make him sleep, and to make him weak enough that he can't break his chains. According to the creators, Kong was 32 meters (104 feet) tall in Kong: Skull Island, but he is 102 meters (335 feet) tall in Godzilla vs. Kong, as he is growing. According to WikiPedia, the magic axe is made of a Godzilla bone, but I'm not sure when was this revealed in the movie. |
 image © Warner Entertainment (AT&T) |
Godzilla and Kong are evenly matched in sheer size. Godzilla is stronger than Kong, and has more powers (underwater breathing, swimming, energy ray blasts). An energy blast from Mechagodzilla hurts him. Godzilla is able to create tunnels in the Earth with his energy ray, that can reach multiple kilometers in a couple of minutes. Even after creating a tunnel, he doesn't seem to be exhausted. According to the creators, Godzilla is 120 meters (394 feet) tall. |
 image © Warner Entertainment (AT&T) |
Mechagodzilla has a similar energy ray blast, but also has missiles and jet engines, allowing him to jump. Godzilla's and Mechagodzilla's blast cancel each other out at normal power, but Mechagodzilla is able to boost it. Its blast is not radioactive, as it would power up Godzilla instead of hurting him. The blast can cut a skullcrawler in half. It is slightly stronger, faster and agile than Godzilla. The size is similar to Godzilla. There's a drill on its tail. |
The Hollow Earth has two parallel planes, and it has gravity on both sides. There are flying rocks in the middle of the gravity zone. There are giant sculptures of Kong-like creatures, and structures that look man-made. I assume those were built by humans living there, based on the size of the stones they used as bricks.
Ghidorah had three heads, that used telepathy to communicate. They use one of the heads to interface with Mechagodzilla telepathically, so I assume they used another heads to make Mechagodzilla.
Godzilla vs. Kong, movie (2021)
image © Warner Entertainment (AT&T)
The message of the story
I have no clue. "Humans are dumb"?
The structure of the story
The scenes of the Godzilla vs. Kong film are played in sequence, following two storylines - one with the scientists, and one with the schoolgirl, that converge in the end. It has the usual arc of the dramatic structure - a very brief introduction, action, quick resolution, abrupt ending.
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Things I liked
- Getting the Hollow Earth into the setting sounds interesting. Also, the vistas looked nice.
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How does it compare to the other works of the creators?
There were three writers doing the story (Terry Rossio, Michael Dougherty, Zach Shields), out of whom Terry Rossio's work is decent (Aladdin, Shreck, Treasure Planet, Pirates of the Caribbean), while the other two works together to write average stories. The script was written by two writers (Eric Pearson, Max Borenstein), both of whom seem working on average titles, with Borenstein working on all of the installments of the MonsterVerse. I'm not sure where did it go off the rails, but the story treatment might have been okay, most of my problems come from the specifics, so I assume it's the screenwriters who botched this movie.
From the director (Adam Wingard), the films I have seen (You're Next, The Guest) were decent, small scale movies, I recommend both of them. With a proper script he might have made a better movie.
How does it compare to the other films in the series?
I'm not sure how to compare them, as they are distinctly different from each other. Godzilla vs. Kong is closer to King of Monsters, but probably looked better than that.
However, as I recall, Godzilla and Kong: Skull Island had better stories.
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Godzilla vs. Kong, movie (2021)
image © Warner Entertainment (AT&T)
Analysis of the story - Godzilla vs. Kong, movie (2021)
I liked the action scenes, but the lack of internal logic prevented me to enjoy the rest of the Godzilla vs. Kong film.
There's no real sense of the size of the monsters, as there's very few scenes when their size can be compared to a human. When we see them fighting between houses, we can't really tell whether those are 10 story buildings or 100 story skyscrapers. Even the trees are no use to us, as there's no fixed sized for a tree. At least there's a scene when Kong touches the little girl, and when he grabs a fighter jet, so we getter a better grip on the size of Kong. In the first Godzilla movie in the series this was implemented better.
There are no stakes in the fights, until Mechagodzilla shows up. This means that we don't know how should we feel during the fight scenes, you just need to watch them with no emotional involvement, unless you picked a side before the fight starts.
There are some things that I consider to be part of the artistic licence, for example the fact that there's electricity and lights switched on when the monsters fight in Hong Kong. To avoid unnecessary damage due to electric fires, that's probably the first thing they would switch off, but it would be a lot more boring to see two shadows fighting between black houses.
Problematic elements
The containment facility: It seems unlikely for me that they create a biodome that Kong can easily destroy as we see in the beginning. The projectors should be further away, or the trees should be some spongy, easy to break ones. Don't lend Kong tools to use for an escape. This is escpecially careless in light of Kon: Skull Island, when they state that Kong is constantly growing, so they should be prepared to make the containment larger.
The little girl with hearing problems: It took me a while to understand that the scenes with the little girl are so silent because the girl can't hear properly. In retrospect this was not a bad way to show that, but it would have been better if they had told us earlier, so I can appreciate this. I've rewatched the first scene, and I get it that they tried to show this instead of telling, but that wasn't clear enough.
The announcement of break-in on podcast: As Ryan George points out, the conspiracy nut announces that he'll do something in the lab, in an open podcast, that is probably monitored by Apex. This should have made the company to tighten the security and monitor their employees more closely.
The science lab hack in the beginning: The ease of hacking is stupid. Even in low security offices there's no chance of using an outside drive to connect with the system. They could have put some effort in writing, and establish that the guy has some outside help, or created a very pecial hardware that is able to hack into the system. The fact that the user just leaves the computer, doesn't switch it off, and leaves it to a random guy to use makes the scene unbelievable.
Using Kong to find the way: Kong doesn't seem like someone who is easy to control. It would have been a lot more efficient to send a scout team inside first, and take a look if they find anything that could be useful. If they can't, then switch to plan B with Kong. Or plan Z, as I'd rather do everything else that's possible, before calling on the help of Kong.
Genetic memory: The idea itself is not totally stupid, it's the implementation that is. Genetic memory can help you to get from one point to another point, but to be able to get to the point from a totally random point, and also in 3D seems to be a bit far fetched, especially that there's nothing that would indicate that Kong has this ability. I can imagine that he actually can do this, what I miss is how the scientist came up with this idea.
Taking the little girl on the trip: It's totally irresponsible to take the girl, especially that everyone died previously who tried to enter, and they didn't even test those AG crafts. I get it that Apex doesn't care, and the scientist might be a lunatic, but the scientist woman seems like a reasonable person. She might decide that she is willing to die for the greater good, but taking the girl into a jump of faith is questionable.
Teaching sign language to Kong: As Ryan George points out, it should have been pretty hard for the little girl to teach Kong sign language, and talk with him secretly, when they were constantly monitored.
"Kong bows to no one": They state this as a fact, however that is exactly what Kong does thoughout the movie. He let himself captured. He allows himself to be contained. He allows the chains to stay on him. He is a broken monster by the time the movie starts, even if that statement was true for his free self. Also, we later see that he yields during both fights.
The ejection of the pilot from the plane that Kong hurls at Godzilla: I assume they showed us the ejection to make Kong look less bad, but as I'm pretty sure the pilot will have a pretty hard crash, I would have preferred if they'd show us how he lands in the water. I don't think he was high enough for his parachute to open properly, and ejecting just makes him fall from higher. There's a high chance of injury from the ejection itself, and getting him out of the water is probably not the highest priority for the fleet.
The security systems: When Bernie and friends walk into super-secret facilities, they can just waltz in everywhere, without any security codes or badges.
Apex soldiers turning on the scientists: This didn't make much sense. First, as the scientists didn't oppose them, it was unnecessary. Second, they knew that Kong was on the scientist's side, so it was also foolhardy.
Piloting the AG craft: How do the scientists get out of the Hollow Earth? Neither of them got any flying lessons, and I'm pretty sure that driving that thing is a lot more complicated than driving a car.
Pouring drink into the cooler: How exactly does this damage the computer? Why are there coolers where people put things on? The computer doesn't control Mechagodzilla, it was the pilot who does it, the computer just displays the data. Although we don't see that it does anything, but the next second, Kong was able to take Mechagodzilla out. According to WikiPedia, they made the computer to short-circuit.
The jokes about hacking: When they try to hack Mechagodzilla, the only thing that is password protected in the whole facility, there's a long running joke about the abilities of the kid, and it gets stupid really fast.
People getting out of shelters when they defeat Mechagodzilla: How did the people knew that Godzilla and Kong will be friends? The only thing they've seen that out of the three titans, one of them fell, and the one that started the destruction of the city is now seems to be victorious. Why did this make them think they'll be safe outside?
Unanswered questions
Why do they need Ghidorah's heads to be able to control Mechagodzilla? Can't they just control it manually?
What kind of energy does Mechagodzilla use in its blasts? (Update: According to Gojipedia, it's proton energy, but I don't think this was mentioned in the movie.)
How did Mechagodzilla control itself? How did the machine become self-aware? (Update: According to Gojipedia, it was Ghidorah's consciousness, as it used Ghidorah's roar when awakened, but then, this was not established in this movie, and you had to remember how Ghidorah roared in the previous film.)
How does Dr. Lind come up with the idea to electrocute Kong to power him up?
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Possibilities of improvement
As the scenes without the monsters are just unnececessary padding, cutting them would probably make a better movie.
Or, at least, it would be a nice DVD feature if it would allow us to skip these parts.
- Cutting the whole plotline with the schoolgirl. It mostly just pads the runtime, and doesn't add to the story.
- Cut the scenes with Dr. Russel, as he doesn't do anything in the story. If the schoolgirl scenes are cut, there's absolutely no need for him anyway.
- Cut the scene when Apex soldiers turn on the scientists. They'll die anyway in the ensuing mayhem, there's no need to add this "twist".
- Even if the schoolgirl parts are left, cut the scenes when they try to hack into Mechagodzilla, because it was both stupid and unnecessary.
- Cut the scene when Kong puts back his dislocated shoulder. It's not necessary, and it's not funny.
- Cut the scene when people get out of the shelters before Godzilla leaves.
How it could have been better?
Add scenes when we can compare the size of the creatures to something we can relate to, preferably humans, or vehicles we have knowledge of.
Develop the Mechagodzilla plot better. Give us hints about what is happening, before the story drops Mechagodzilla on the audience.
Make the security a bit more safe. Make it look like they actually have to spend effort to reach their goals.
I would have preferred character arcs for the main characters, at least for the scientist man and the schoolgirl.
Godzilla vs. Kong, movie (2021)
image © Warner Entertainment (AT&T)
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Uses for the film - Godzilla vs. Kong, movie (2021)
Plot
- There are giant creatures living on Earth
- Giant creatures use the Earth as a battleground
- There is an underground cave system, leading to a Hollow Earth
- Scientists use the cut up body of a giant creature to create a robot to battle giant creatures
Scenes
- The battle in the sea has a pretty limited use (showing a Kaiju battle on top of ships), but it looks cool
- When Mechagodzilla enters the arena, it's a great scene showing the entry of a giant mecha or robot.
- The battle scene in the end could be used to depict Kaiju battle in a city
Scenario ideas - Role-playing game scenario ideas
- The team is tasked with creating a zoo for strange creatures, or at least an enclosure for one. The storyteller comes up with all the special abilities and needs of the creature. The characters have a chance to observe the creature in its natural habitat for a limited time, and they have a chance to test these abilities. Then they have to design a space for the creature on a limited budget, that will provide enough space and adaquate food for it, and that will be able to hold the creature, preventing it from escape. There's a time limit on all of this, for example their natural habitat will be destroyed.
Scenario ideas - Wargame scenario ideas
- A battle is fought on floating islands of various sizes.
- There is a substance that the islands are floating in. The substance can be harmful for the combatants, unless they are immune or wear protective gear.
- One of the sides can jump or fly from one island to the other, but they are harmed by the substance. The other side can submerge and swim in the substance with no problems.
- The floating islands can get damaged during the battle, or from the weight of the combatants on them. If someone jumps on an island, it causes more damage. In time, all of the islands will crumble into pieces, so the combatants have to hurry, or move to another island to continue their fight.
- One of the sides have to breach a base to retrieve an objective. The other side tries to defend the base. During the assault, there is a catastrophe that is destroying the base (a fire, earthquake, kaiju attack). The destruction is random, and the people and equipment in the targeted area get damaged. The attackers have multiple possibilities of reaching their objective, so they can just move to another place if one of the places get destroyed. For example, they want to take a person of specific profession hostage, and any of them will do who work in the place.
- To make things harder, the attackers can't or won't use weapons to kill the defenders.
- The defenders can have a doctrine that they can only use lethal weapons if one of them gets attacked with one. So, until the attackers switch to lethal weapons, they can only use non-lethal weapons.
- Arena combat between mecha and strange creatures. One side has a giant robot, and a budget to add upgrades to the robot. The other side can bring in different kinds of creatures to test the abilities of the robot, and they can use either one giant creature, or multiple smaller ones. The robot has limited space on upgrades, or the addition of extra upgrades will use up its energy, or slows is down due to weight - come up with limitations for your games. The robot is totally repaired between the fights. There should be a budget that allows the player to add upgrades between games, and a budget for the monster player to buy their own fighters.
- The robot is just one of the gladiators, and it's only repaired if they can gather enough money for that. During the games, each succesful action earns them money. You can even come up with abilities or actions that make unsuccesful moves more spectacular to earn them money. For example pieces fall off of the robot with each hit it receives, and the audience likes it when damage is so visible. They can even bet money on either their own victory, or the victory of their opponent, doubling their money if they bet on the right one.
- There's a battle between two forces. When one of the forces win the game due to victory conditions (and not by wiping out the whole defeated force), suddenly a third force enters the playing area, that's about as strong as the winner side was at the beginning of the game, and attacks the winners. The new attacker can be set up anywhere on the edge of the playing area (or they might even enter inside if the game allows forces like that). The winner has to defeat even this new force to win the game. The losing force is allowed to get allied to the winning force to defeat the new attackers, but they can refuse this.
- If they get allied, they can fight the new enemy together. They can't mix their units into a single squad, and they can't share resources. The victory points earned against the new enemy by the losing side count double when they sum it up at the end. The victory is decided by the final victory points.
- If they refuse to help their enemies, their models are free to leave the playing area, and take them into a separate group. After the winners finish their battle with the new attackers, take the survivor models of the winning side in another group. Then the winner sets up a new playing area, in a way they wish. The winners caught up to the losers who try to escape. Set up the attackers anywhere on the playing area. The losing side can be set up anywhere else, at least two movements away from the attacking units. Every losing squad is also two movements away from other friendly squads, as they get apart during the frantic escape. The losing side is also tired, so they could get -1-2 points to vital statistics. If you don't want to change the stats, or your system doesn't allow it, roll a d6 dice each time a model tries to act. On a roll of 6, it's too tired to do anything, so it will just pass. If there's no difference between models in a squad, you could roll all dice at once. If it matters, who is unable to act, point at each model before you roll. The attacker wins if they defeat more than half of the units. The defender wins if more than half of their units get away from the playing area.
- The new attackers can be played by AI. In this case, if the original loser doesn't help them, the original winner can use the new attacker side as their own in the next game, even if they lost the game.
Miniatures - 1/50-1/60 (28-32mm scale)
The 1/50-1/60 scale is not ideal to depict the size of the kaijus in a realistic manner. You could use a human sized model foot to show them stomping on the playing area while the human models are running around. You can also use a Godzilla or Kong costume, and get someone to play in that, as these kaijus are human sized in this scale.
If you don't mind not adhering to their official sizes, I think any kind of large models (30+ cms) could be just as good, as they would tower over regular figures and buildings anyway, and I don't think anyone would have 2-3 meter high skyscapers in their collections to get them fight over.
Godzilla: At 120 meters, the model should be 200-240 cm (79-95 inch) tall.
Kong: At 102 meters, the model should be 170-204 cm (67-80 inch) tall.
Mechagodzilla: At 120 meters, the model should be 200-240 cm (79-95 inch) tall.
Miniatures - 1/300 (6mm scale)
The 1/300 is a much more player friendly scale for them. I've seen a 1/430 scale, 28 cm (11 inch) tall toy line, and even though it's still a bit short, but it's close in scale.
Godzilla: At 120 meters, the model should be 40 cm (16 inch) tall.
Kong: At 102 meters, the model should be 34 cm (13.5 inch) tall.
Mechagodzilla: At 120 meters, the model should be 40 cm (16 inch) tall.
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Godzilla vs. Kong, movie (2021)
image © Warner Entertainment (AT&T)
Similar stories - Godzilla vs. Kong, movie (2021)
Movies
Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003): A giant lizard (Godzilla) has a fight with a giant robot (Mechagodzilla), built to defend the Earth against giant creatures.
Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2002): A giant lizard (Godzilla) has a fight with a giant robot (Mechagodzilla), built to defend the Earth against giant creatures.
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991): A giant lizard (Godzilla) has a fight with a giant robot made from a giant dragon (Mecha-King Ghidorah).
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974): A giant lizard (Godzilla) has a fight with a giant robot (Mechagodzilla).
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1992): A giant lizard (Godzilla) has a fight with a giant robot (Mechagodzilla).
King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962): A giant ape (Kong) has a fight with a giant lizard (Godzilla).
Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975): A giant lizard (Godzilla) has a fight with a giant robot (Mechagodzilla).
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Frequently asked questions - Godzilla vs. Kong, movie (2021)
Is Godzilla vs. Kong film based on a book or comics?
No, Godzilla vs. Kong is not based on either books or comics, but it's loosely based on King Kong vs Godzilla.
Is there a post credit scene in Godzilla vs. Kong?
No, there's no post credit scene in Godzilla vs. Kong.
Will there be a sequel to Godzilla vs. Kong?
We will see. I wouldn't be surprised if there would be a sequel to Godzilla vs. Kong.
Where can I watch Godzilla vs. Kong online? Is Godzilla vs. Kong available on Netflix? Is Godzilla vs. Kong on Amazon?
As of 2021.04.05, Godzilla vs. Kong is on HBO Max.
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Resources - Godzilla vs. Kong, movie (2021)
Official
Godzilla vs. Kong: Official website.
Information
IMDB: Godzilla vs. Kong (2021): Database article.
WikiPedia: Godzilla vs. Kong: Database article.
Letterboxd: Godzilla vs. Kong 2021: Database article.
Rotten Tomatoes: Godzilla vs. Kong: Database article.
Gojipedia: Godzilla vs. Kong: Database article.
Reviews with no spoilers - Godzilla vs. Kong film (2020)
Nate Zoebl: Godzilla vs. King Kong (2021): Review article about the film with minor spoilers.
Obsessive Cinema Disorder 電影強迫症: Godzilla vs Kong Review: Review article about the Godzilla vs. Kong film with no spoilers.
Tony (for Reel Time Flicks): Godzilla vs. Kong (2021): Review article about the film with minor spoilers.
WardWorks (for Cross the Netflix Stream): Godzilla vs. Kong Movie Review: Review article with spoilers.
Reviews with no spoilers - Godzilla vs. Kong film (2020) - Italian
Marco Minniti (for Asbury Movies): Godzilla vs. Kong (in Italian): Review article with minor spoilers, in Italian.
English version by Google Translate
Reviews with no spoilers - Godzilla vs. Kong film (2020) - Turkish
Doğa Bekiroğlu (for Dark Movies): Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) – Film Review (in Turkish): Review article of the movie, with spoilers, in Turkish.
English version by Google Translate
Reviews with spoilers - Godzilla vs. Kong film (2021)
greigzilla (for We've Got (Back) Issues): Godzilla Vs. Kong: Review article of the movie, with spoilers.
Mike & Jay (for RedLetterMedia): Half in the Bag vs. Godzilla vs. Kong: Review video of the Godzilla vs. Kong movie, with spoilers.Ł
Paul Brian McCoy (for Psycho Drive-in): Godzilla vs. Kong (2021): Review article of the movie, with spoilers.
Phil Owen (for The Wrap): The Plot of ‘Godzilla vs Kong’ Explained: Review article of the Godzilla vs. Kong movie, with spoilers. Includes a very detailed plot summary.§
Ryan George (for Screen Rant): Godzilla vs. Kong Pitch Meeting: Humorous review video of Godzilla vs. Kong 2021, with spoilers.§
Saskia Baron (for The Arts Desk): Godzilla vs. Kong review - let battle commence (again): Review article of the Godzilla vs. Kong movie, with spoilers.§
The Critical Drinker: Godzilla vs Kong - Big, Dumb and... Fun?: Review video of the Godzilla vs. Kong movie, with spoilers.
Reviews with spoilers - Godzilla vs. Kong film (2020) - Hungarian
Gabe March (for GeekWorld): Clash of the Titans - Godzilla vs Kong MOVIE RECOMMENDATION (in Hungarian): Review article of the Godzilla vs. Kong movie, with spoilers, in Hungarian.
English version by Google Translate
Reviews with spoilers - Godzilla vs. Kong film (2020) - Turkish
Buğra Şendündar (for Science Fiction Club): Clash of the Titans: Godzilla vs. Kong (in Turkish): Review article about the film with spoilers, in Turkish.
English version by Google Translate
Analysis - Godzilla vs. Kong movie (2021)
Phil Owen (for The Wrap): The 13 Most Insane Parts of ‘Godzilla Vs Kong’: Analysis article about the action scenes of the Godzilla vs. Kong film.§
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Buying the product - Godzilla vs. Kong, movie (2021)
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Have you seen the Godzilla vs. Kong film? How do you like the movie? Would you recommend it to others? Do you know reviews or resources you'd like to add? What further thoughts do you have about it? Tell your opinion in the comments!
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