*Spoiler Free*
“Godzilla vs. Kong” has been out for a few days now and it’s already reviving recent pandemic box office trends with its 49 million dollar debut. For a monster movie, it’s far exceeding everyone’s expectations. I recommend checking out this in-depth plot review of “Godzilla vs. Kong” from another one of our Her Campus writers.
So what gives? Why the amazing feedback?
My answer? “Godzilla vs. Kong” has some of the most spectacular computer-generated imagery (CGI) seen in a long time. Hands down.
Even I, who am not the biggest fan of monster movies, was thoroughly entertained watching this film. Don’t get me wrong, the storyline of “Godzilla vs. Kong” is far from perfect (but let’s be realistic, who is really watching a film about two giant monsters fighting and expecting a deep, philosophical story?). However, I ultimately think the fantastic visuals make up for the plot’s shortcomings. I must give credit to the amazing directing from Adam Wingard and the fantastic visual work done by special effects company Weta Digital, who was responsible for this film as well as other works like “Avatar” (2009), “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” (2014), and “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018) along with many, many others.
When it comes to films that are mostly CGI, it can be difficult to keep the effects grounded in reality. This is a problem that often makes me lose focus when watching such action-packed CGI. Adam Wingard explains in this video by the New York Times how he dealt with this challenge: “Where possible, I tried to anchor the perspective from a point of view that could actually be shot. So all these angles, Godzilla’s fin coming out of the water, we tried to picture, hey, maybe you could strap a camera in this reality to Godzilla’s fin and you’re right there with him.” Wingard continues, “so we tried not to— even though in the CGI world you can do whatever you want, there’s a temptation to just go hog wild and move the camera around 360 and all these things. Like, I tried to anchor that into a reality as much as possible.” This decision to keep the visuals grounded in reality results in some really satisfying shots which ultimately helped keep me actively engaged and consistently on the edge of my seat while watching this film. If you’re interested in learning more about Windgard’s creative process, I highly recommend this article from the Los Angeles Times.
For anyone who is not usually interested in these types of films (like me), I actually recommend giving “Godzilla vs. Kong” a try. It’s one of those easy-to-digest, perfect for summer films that you can enjoy watching with a group of friends. Trust me on this one!
You can watch “Godzilla vs. Kong” today in theaters and on HBO Max.