Kaijuman’s review published on Letterboxd:
“Why do you think Godzilla and King Kong hate each other?”
Sending your employees to a remote island in the hopes they can kidnap a giant monster so you can boost your tv ratings is serious chad behavior.
Whereas King Kong had to fight an actually real octopus and then get plastered on berry juice so he could be transported to Japan, Godzilla simply needed to wait for a nuclear submarine to smash into his iceberg prison. Typing that sentence helps me realize how wild both those methods are.
We fill the first half with lighthearted fare and some monster action before backfilling the film with the nutso Kaiju mayhem we so desperately desire. Then it’s icon vs icon as Kong and Godzilla beat the piss out of each other in the final stretch. It’s surprisingly well paced.
Kong looks rough with his goofball extendo-arms and obvious zipper on his back, but Godzilla looks pretty kickass with his longer snout. Wish we got to see that in other films.
The big climax is pure entertainment with some stellar physical acting from the men inside the suits. Kong checking to see if he’s on fire after being hit with the atomic breath and Godzilla slapping his tail on Kong like a child gives this fight more life. The asspull with the storm supercharging Kong and giving him static shock fingers is dumb, but in an endearing sort of way.
This was the original Japanese release which is better than the US edit but not enough for me to raise my rating any. It’s still an energetic and wild time with a brisk pace and cool monsters throwing rocks at each other.
