King Kong vs. Godzilla Review

Review of King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) by screenqueeen: 👍 4/5

I'm a goofball.

Back when I dropped my hard-earned funds on Criterion's spine 1000 I binge-watched all of them in a few weekends and this was one of the first that I rewatched the day after I had seen it, thinking in my pretentious brain that Criterion put the Japanese cut on the main disc (even during watching the introduction to the film). However it wasn't until today that I actually saw the Japanese cut (on the supplements disc of the release), and it's quite a big difference.

The setup for the pharmaceutical company makes the most sense it'll ever make, even showing the interior of their studios and most importantly introducing you to the characters you're going to spend the most time with. From here this one has the best interpersonal relationships yet mixed with its still-bizarre plot setup and plot devices it manages to entertain anyway.

The most preferable GODZILLA sequel for me is always a good mix of relatable humans put in a predicament and legitimately solving their way out and the sheer comic-book style ridiculousness of expanding a world of monsters to the point where there are simply too many to keep track of so you dump them all in one place, put a forcefield around it and call it Monster Island. We can have both, and this installment is the first to get that balance just right.