In Defense of Godzilla vs. Kong

photo courtesy of @godzillavskong Instagram

If you’ve been scrolling on Twitter lately, you might come across critiques of Godzilla vs. Kong, the latest entry in Warner Bros’ Monsterverse. Some said that the film itself was lacking in its story and characters, boiling down to a fight between a giant monkey and a radioactive lizard. But, you know what? Maybe that’s exactly what we’re looking for.

For the record, I watched Godzilla vs. Kong a week or so ago, and it pretty much met my expectations. It was a very fun movie to watch, and the fights were epic and visually fun to watch. The characters were all relatively one-dimensional, but then again, it’s not about them; it’s all about Godzilla and Kong.

We didn’t go into Godzilla vs. Kong looking for a sophisticated storyline and serious character development. We watched it because we wanted to see a fight between a giant monkey and a radioactive lizard. Nothing more, nothing less. Sure, movies like Godzilla vs. Kong can be predictable and might not have the strongest stories or characters. But sometimes, a little mindless entertainment where you know what will happen is just what you need.

We’re not saying that all movies and television shows should dumb down their plots; we like more serious entertainment as much as anyone else. Shows like HBO’s Euphoria, Netflix’s Money Heist, and NBC’s The Good Place all tackle mature subjects and feature them in entertaining ways, and are extremely enjoyable.

However, sometimes it’s nice to watch something you don’t have to think about so critically. Take Christopher Nolan’s latest movie, Tenet, for example. If you remember watching it over winter break with your family, you might have felt like if you took your eyes off of the screen for two seconds, you wouldn’t understand what was happening. Even by the time the credits rolled, we were still scratching our head about it. While it’s nice to watch films with more complex storylines, we don’t mind some predictability from time to time. 

At the end of the day, watch whatever you want. But don’t disregard Godzilla vs. Kong for what it brings to the table: Some fun, familiar, and reliable entertainment.