Tag Archives: King Kong

Mapping The MonsterVerse – Map-It

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TL;DR – We map all the destruction and Kaiju action from the MonsterVerse

Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Image Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures.

Mapping The MonsterVerse –

Well, it is Easter at the time of writing this, and the latest entry into the MonsterVerse, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, has landed in cinemas. The MonsterVerse is the universe from Legendary where Godzilla fights a bunch of other Kaijus/Titans, including Kong, and usually in the middle of populated cities.  

With that in mind, we thought it would be interesting to see what it looks like when we chart all that destruction onto a map. WARNING: there will be some Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Spoilers ahead.

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Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While this is more of a Kong film, I love that they leaned into the camp, but some hollow aspects held it back.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film

Kong finds a realm under Hollow Earth.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Review –

One of my joys in recent years has been the big Kaiju punch-em-up that has been the Monsterverse. There is just a lot of fun seeing two giant creatures rumble their way through a city. But now that we got the big team-up film last time, the question then becomes: where do they go from there? Well, that is the question we will look at today.

So to set the scene, at the end of Godzilla v Kong, Godzilla becomes the alpha of the surface world, and Kong becomes the alpha of Hollow Earth. A sort of detente that exists only if nether of the two strays into each other’s territory. But when Kong heads up to get some dental surgery, and Godzilla starts ripping out nuclear reactors in Europe, it feels like something is coming their way. This is then when we ask the question: Is Hollow Earth as far down as you could go?

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Skull Island: Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is a perfectly watchable show, but it never reached its potential, with some odd tone issues and a lacklustre narrative holding it back.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this series.

King Kong's foot print.

Skull Island Review –

When  Kong: Skull Island came out in 2017, I was delighted with the world they created, full of mystery and wonder. This meant I was slightly disappointed when they killed off the island with one line of dialogue in Godzilla vs. Kong. However, there is clearly still a lot of space in the Monsterverse, and today we look at more adventures on an island where nearly everything wants to kill you.   

So to set the scene, we open on a research boat of some sort in the South Pacific Ocean. There is a loud commotion when a girl named Annie (Mae Whitman) in handcuffs tries to escape the crew hunting her down. She makes her way onto a lifeboat in a last-ditch effort and drives into the storm. Meanwhile, on an exploration boat, Charlie (Nicolas Cantu) and his father, Cap (Benjamin Bratt), have a significant conversation about going to college. As Charlie’s friend Mike (Darren Barnet) consoles him, Charlie notices a girl floating in on some wreckage. It is quite a commotion, but while Annie is concerned about the mercenaries chasing her, she is even more concerned about what lurks in the deep. Now from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Godzilla vs. Kong – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A bombastic visual spectacle that explodes on the screen and never lets up.    

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Nominated – Explosive Action, Most Fun & Fascinating Worldbuilding
Winner – Explosive Action

Disclosure – I was invited to a Press Screening of this film.

Godzilla vs. Kong. Image Credit: Warner Bros Pictures.

Godzilla vs. Kong Review –

There have been several attempts to create Cinematic Universes across modern cinema, but most of them have fallen flat. However, one of the few rays of light in this space has been the visual delight that has been the MonsterVerse. It has been bombast on the big screen, as giant monsters battle each other for supremacy as we watch on. Today, we look at the next film in that franchise that pits our two heroes from the previous movies against each other.     

So to set the scene, it has been several years since Godzilla became the alpha at the end of Godzilla: King of the Monsters. In that time, Godzilla has kept the other titans in their home areas, much to the joy of the humans living in the world. However, one day, Godzilla surges out of the water near Pensacola, Florida. The titan makes a beeline for the Apex factory tearing apart everything in its way. In the factory, a whistleblower Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry), is trying to find what Apex is up to because they are up to something shady. Meanwhile, on Skull Island, King Kong is taking his daily walk when he comes across a little girl, Jia (Kaylee Hottle), in the forest. However, as they bond, Kong feels a threat coming and sharpens a tree javelin, ready to take it down.

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Movie Review – Ready Player One

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TL;DR – This film is so thirsty for you money with that nostalgia dollar, but like most mirages, there is not an oasis at the end, just a barren wasteland

Score – 2.5 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Ready Player One banner

Review –

Well, um, well, that was very much a film, and it is a film that both fascinating to watch, yet also deeply hollow. It was honestly weird to see a film with so many contradictions, made by one of the best filmmakers of our time. However, it feels in many ways like a lot of the throwaway faff that we see on screen all the time, completely without substance. So just a quick aside, with today’s review I can’t really comment on how well this is an adaption of the source material because I have never read it. As well as that, unfortunately, this does mean that I can’t tell you if this movie does not work because of the directions that they took in the adaptation, or because the source material just gave them not much to work with. With that in mind, let’s take a look at a film that launched a thousand top 10 lists.

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Movie Review – Kong: Skull Island

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TL;DR – Fantastic action, amazing visuals, interesting characters, and the best rendition of King Kong in a long while, this is a must watch film

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

P.S. There is a post-credits scene

Kong: Skull Island. Image Credit: Warner Bros.

Review –

The more and more we heard about Kong: Skull Island, the more I had a feeling that Kong was either going to be a masterpiece or a heaping pile of trash, I just could not see a middle ground happening. Well, I was right, Kong: Skull Island is not a mediocre film at all, and thankfully it is not a pile of trash either, instead it is an epic film that makes the most of the characters whilst setting it away from the traditional narrative. The effects alone make it a film you have to see, but it is so much more than just a technically brilliant film, it has a strong narrative, characters you relate to, and one of the more interesting island set ups I have seen since I read Dinotopia, quick aside, can we actually get that Dinotopia film now please and thank-you. Ok so let’s go break down why I think you should go see Kong: Skull Island.

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