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Description
Lets bring our Godzilla vs. Kong-athon to a close with this long awaited rematch between the King of the Monsters and the Eighth Wonder of the World.

Five years after the events of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Godzilla and Kong are currently the last known active Titans on Earth. On Skull Island, the climate has been destabilized, and Monarch now watches over Kong, who resides within a giant dome. Kong is visited by Jia, the last Iwi native and Ilene Andrews' adopted daughter, who is deaf and can communicate with Kong via sign language.
Bernie Hayes, a former employee of the Apex Cybernetics corporation and host of a Titan conspiracy theory podcast, exfiltrates information suggesting sinister activities at a Pensacola Apex facility. However, Godzilla suddenly attacks the facility; during the rampage, Bernie discovers a device that resembles the ORCA, previously used to communicate with or control Titans. Madison Russell, a fan of Bernie's podcast, enlists her friend Josh to investigate Godzilla's attack. Together they find Bernie and sneak into the wrecked Apex base, discovering a secret facility deep underground. They are inadvertently locked and transported through an underground monorail to Hong Kong. There, they unwittingly intrude on a test of a mechanical version of Godzilla, telepathically controlled by Ren Serizawa, the son of the late Ishirō Serizawa, through the neural networks from a severed head of Ghidorah that Apex has retrieved. The test is cut short due to the power supply's limitations. It is then revealed that Apex executive Walter Simmons intends to harness the power of an energy source in the Hollow Earth, an underground world that is a secret home to the Titans, to overcome the limitations of MechaGodzilla.
Walter recruits Nathan Lind, a former Monarch scientist turned theorist on the Hollow Earth, as a guide in search of the power source. Although Nathan is initially hesitant because his brother died on an expedition to Hollow Earth owing to a strong reverse-gravitational effect, he agrees after Walter reveals that Apex has developed HEAVs, specialized crafts able to withstand the pressure exerted by the gravity field. To help guide them to the Hollow Earth in search of the energy source, Nathan goes to Skull Island and meets with Ilene, convincing her to let Kong guide them through the Hollow Earth. Nathan, Ilene, and an Apex team led by Walter's daughter Maya board a modified barge carrying Kong. Godzilla attacks the convoy midway through the voyage and defeats Kong, but retreats after the ships disable their power and trick him into thinking they are destroyed. Realizing that Godzilla will continue to come for Kong, they airlift Kong to a Hollow Earth entry point in Antarctica. Jia convinces Kong to enter the tunnel, and the team follows him in the HEAV's.
Inside Hollow Earth, they find an ecosystem similar to Skull Island. While traversing through the landscape, Kong and the team discover his species' ancestral throne room where they find remains of an ancient war with Godzilla's kind and a glowing axe made from the dorsal spines of another member of Godzilla's species. As they find the power source, the Apex team sends its signature back to their base in Hong Kong, but Godzilla, sensing the energy, makes landfall in the city and directly drills a shaft to the throne room with his fire breath. In the ensuing mayhem, Maya and the rest of the Apex team are killed. Kong and the survivors (Ilene, Jia, and Nathan) ascend through the tunnel to Hong Kong, where Godzilla and Kong fight again. Kong wins but doesn’t finish Godzilla off, which results in Godzilla getting back up for another round. This third engagement ends with Godzilla claiming victory over Kong.
In the Apex base, Ren warns Walter of employing the new Hollow Earth energy source without prior testing, but Walter ignores his pleas and orders him to activate MechaGodzilla. Bernie, Madison, and Josh are caught by security and brought to Walter. When MechaGodzilla is re-activated with that new energy, it is taken over by Ghidorah’s consciousness lingering in the interface network, kills Walter and Ren, and then attacks Hong Kong, drawing Godzilla's attention. Godzilla and MechaGodzilla battle; however, Godzilla, weary from his battle with Kong, is overwhelmed. Nathan's team is able to revive Kong, and Jia convinces him to help Godzilla, but MechaGodzilla overpowers both of the Titans. In the base, Josh short-circuits MechaGodzilla's controls with Bernie's flask of liquor, stalling the robot and giving Godzilla and Kong time to recover. Godzilla blasts the axe with his atomic breath, supercharging it and allowing Kong to destroy MechaGodzilla. Madison, Bernie, and Josh reunite with Mark Russell, while Godzilla and Kong acknowledge each other before going their separate ways. Sometime later, Ilene and Jia watch Kong, now ruling over the Hollow Earth, from an observation post.

Pros:
1. Godzilla and Kong are both still as awesome as ever, and it's great to see them interact and fight.
2. MechaGodzilla is a great monster villain.
3. Like the other MonsterVerse films, the production value is really impressive.
4. Godzilla, Kong, and MechaGodzilla all have amazing designs.
5. As to be expected by now, the monster fights and action/destruction scenes are a huge spectacle.
6. Spectacular special effects.
7. Jia, Madison, Bernie, and Ren are all decent characters.
8. Great performances from the cast.
9. Like before, there's some decent suspense.
10. The film has a very well balanced tone.
11. Junkie XL's score is really well composed.
12. Like the prior films in the MonsterVerse, the cinematography is excellent.
13. Several memorable moments.
14. The story is pretty decently written and interesting, it's very well paced, there's some pretty neat callbacks to some of the other Kong and Godzilla films, and it really works as a potential finale to the MonsterVerse.

Cons:
1. Josh is an incredibly annoying comic relief.
2. The rest of the characters are easily forgettable and underdeveloped.
3. The story, while good, can be easily predictable, pretty much like any other "vs." movie like this.
4. Like King of the Monsters, the dialogue can be pretty corny at times.

Overall:
While not a perfect movie, this is an epic and fun monster brawl that fans of both Kong and Godzilla will enjoy, and a neat film to close this monster marathon on.

Rating:
7.5/10 (Good to Great)

Production Notes and Trivia:
1. In September 2015, Legendary moved Kong: Skull Island from Universal to Warner Bros., which sparked media speculation that Godzilla and King Kong would appear in a film together. In October 2015, Legendary confirmed that they would unite Godzilla and King Kong in Godzilla vs. Kong, at the time targeted for a May 29, 2020, release. Legendary plans to create a shared cinematic franchise "centered around Monarch" that "brings together Godzilla and Legendary’s King Kong in an ecosystem of other giant super-species, both classic and new." Producer Alex Garcia confirmed that the film will not be a remake of King Kong vs. Godzilla, stating, "the idea is not to remake that movie." In May 2017, Adam Wingard was announced as the director for Godzilla vs. Kong. Wingard had previously been considered by Peter Jackson to direct a sequel to his 2005 version of King Kong that was ultimately went unproduced.
2. In July 2017, Wingard spoke about the outline created by the writers room, stating, "We're going in very great detail through all the characters, the arcs they have, how they relate to one another, and most importantly how they relate to the monsters, and how the monsters relate to them or reflect them." He also stated that he and his team are going "beat by beat" on the outline, stating, "So once again, it's a discussion, and about feeling out how to make it as strong as possible, so that when Terry [Rossio] goes to write the screenplay, he has a definitive breakdown of what to include." Wingard expressed his desire for the film to have a definite winner, and also confirmed that the film will tie in with Godzilla: King of the Monsters, be set in modern times, and feature a "more rugged, a bit more aged Kong."
3. In March 2017, Legendary assembled a writers room to develop the story for Godzilla vs. Kong, with Terry Rossio (who co-wrote an early unproduced script for TriStar's Godzilla) leading a team consisting of Patrick McKay, J. D. Payne, Lindsey Beer, Cat Vasko, T.S. Nowlin, Jack Paglen, and J. Michael Straczynski. Michael Dougherty and Zach Shields, the director and co-writers of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, provided rewrites to ensure that certain themes from King of the Monsters were carried over and that some characters were properly developed. Dougherty revealed how he wrote for the title characters, and how the film would address their differing interactions with people. For Kong, Dougherty stated the film would feature "those very unique, and even warm, bonding moments" between Kong and humans since they've been a staple of the character since the 1933 film. For Godzilla, his connection to humans would be "more implied" as his softer side is rarely shown. Eric Pearson and Max Borenstein received a Screenplay By credit, while Rossio, Dougherty, and Shields received a Story By credit.
4. Principal photography began on November 12, 2018 in Hawaii and Australia and was expected to end in February 2019 under the working title Apex. Production was initially slated to begin on October 1, 2018. For the Hawaii shoot, the crew filmed on the USS Missouri, at Manoa Falls, and in Downtown Honolulu. The crew established a camp in the Kalanianaole Highway, which had been closed until November 21. Local crews and extras were used for the film. In January 2019, filming resumed in Gold Coast, Queensland at Village Roadshow Studios for an additional 26 weeks. Filming locations in Australia included Miami State High School and parts of Brisbane such as the Newstead suburb, the Chinatown Mall in Fortitude Valley, and the Wickham Terrace Car Park. In April 2019, Wingard confirmed via Instagram that filming in Australia had wrapped. That same month, Wingard revealed Hong Kong as one of the final shooting locations and that principal photography had wrapped.

In Conclusion:
King Kong and Godzilla are known throughout film buffs and film historians as the two biggest movie monsters of all time both literally and figuratively. Sure, they may have had a few duds here and there, but that doesn't change the fact that the impact these two beasts had in the realm of cinema is legendary. And now, to close this off, I'm going to be ranking both the Kong films and the Godzilla films in their own respective lists. By the way, this won't include Rodan or the Mothra films.

Kong Films:
10. The Mighty Kong
9. King Kong Lives
8. King Kong (1976)
7. King Kong Escapes
6. Godzilla vs. Kong
5. Son of Kong
4. Kong: Skull Island
3. King Kong (2005)
2. King Kong vs. Godzilla
1. King Kong (1933)

Godzilla Films:
36. All Monsters Attack
35. Godzilla (1998)
34. Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle
33. Ebirah: Horror of the Deep
32. Godzilla vs. Hedorah
31. Godzilla vs. Megaguirus
30. Godzilla vs. Megalon
29. Godzilla vs. Gigan
28. Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters
27. Invasion of Astro-Monster
26. Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla
25. Destroy All Monsters
24. Godzilla (2014)
23. Son of Godzilla
22. Godzilla Raids Again
21. Godzilla vs. Kong
20. Godzilla: The Planet Eater
19. Godzilla 2000: Millennium
18. Godzilla: King of the Monsters
17. Godzilla: Final Wars
16. Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla
15. The Return of Godzilla
14. Godzilla vs. Biollante
13. Ghidorah: The Three-Headed Monster
12. Terror of MechaGodzilla
11. King Kong vs. Godzilla
10. Shin Godzilla
9. Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla II
8. Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.
7. Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla
6. Mothra vs. Godzilla
5. Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
4. Godzilla vs. Mothra
3. Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack
2. Godzilla vs. Destoroyah
1. Godzilla (1954)

Description
Lets bring our Godzilla vs. Kong-athon to a close with this long awaited rematch between the King of the Monsters and the Eighth Wonder of the World.

Five years after the events of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Godzilla and Kong are currently the last known active Titans on Earth. On Skull Island, the climate has been destabilized, and Monarch now watches over Kong, who resides within a giant dome. Kong is visited by Jia, the last Iwi native and Ilene Andrews' adopted daughter, who is deaf and can communicate with Kong via sign language.
Bernie Hayes, a former employee of the Apex Cybernetics corporation and host of a Titan conspiracy theory podcast, exfiltrates information suggesting sinister activities at a Pensacola Apex facility. However, Godzilla suddenly attacks the facility; during the rampage, Bernie discovers a device that resembles the ORCA, previously used to communicate with or control Titans. Madison Russell, a fan of Bernie's podcast, enlists her friend Josh to investigate Godzilla's attack. Together they find Bernie and sneak into the wrecked Apex base, discovering a secret facility deep underground. They are inadvertently locked and transported through an underground monorail to Hong Kong. There, they unwittingly intrude on a test of a mechanical version of Godzilla, telepathically controlled by Ren Serizawa, the son of the late Ishirō Serizawa, through the neural networks from a severed head of Ghidorah that Apex has retrieved. The test is cut short due to the power supply's limitations. It is then revealed that Apex executive Walter Simmons intends to harness the power of an energy source in the Hollow Earth, an underground world that is a secret home to the Titans, to overcome the limitations of MechaGodzilla.
Walter recruits Nathan Lind, a former Monarch scientist turned theorist on the Hollow Earth, as a guide in search of the power source. Although Nathan is initially hesitant because his brother died on an expedition to Hollow Earth owing to a strong reverse-gravitational effect, he agrees after Walter reveals that Apex has developed HEAVs, specialized crafts able to withstand the pressure exerted by the gravity field. To help guide them to the Hollow Earth in search of the energy source, Nathan goes to Skull Island and meets with Ilene, convincing her to let Kong guide them through the Hollow Earth. Nathan, Ilene, and an Apex team led by Walter's daughter Maya board a modified barge carrying Kong. Godzilla attacks the convoy midway through the voyage and defeats Kong, but retreats after the ships disable their power and trick him into thinking they are destroyed. Realizing that Godzilla will continue to come for Kong, they airlift Kong to a Hollow Earth entry point in Antarctica. Jia convinces Kong to enter the tunnel, and the team follows him in the HEAV's.
Inside Hollow Earth, they find an ecosystem similar to Skull Island. While traversing through the landscape, Kong and the team discover his species' ancestral throne room where they find remains of an ancient war with Godzilla's kind and a glowing axe made from the dorsal spines of another member of Godzilla's species. As they find the power source, the Apex team sends its signature back to their base in Hong Kong, but Godzilla, sensing the energy, makes landfall in the city and directly drills a shaft to the throne room with his fire breath. In the ensuing mayhem, Maya and the rest of the Apex team are killed. Kong and the survivors (Ilene, Jia, and Nathan) ascend through the tunnel to Hong Kong, where Godzilla and Kong fight again. Kong wins but doesn’t finish Godzilla off, which results in Godzilla getting back up for another round. This third engagement ends with Godzilla claiming victory over Kong.
In the Apex base, Ren warns Walter of employing the new Hollow Earth energy source without prior testing, but Walter ignores his pleas and orders him to activate MechaGodzilla. Bernie, Madison, and Josh are caught by security and brought to Walter. When MechaGodzilla is re-activated with that new energy, it is taken over by Ghidorah’s consciousness lingering in the interface network, kills Walter and Ren, and then attacks Hong Kong, drawing Godzilla's attention. Godzilla and MechaGodzilla battle; however, Godzilla, weary from his battle with Kong, is overwhelmed. Nathan's team is able to revive Kong, and Jia convinces him to help Godzilla, but MechaGodzilla overpowers both of the Titans. In the base, Josh short-circuits MechaGodzilla's controls with Bernie's flask of liquor, stalling the robot and giving Godzilla and Kong time to recover. Godzilla blasts the axe with his atomic breath, supercharging it and allowing Kong to destroy MechaGodzilla. Madison, Bernie, and Josh reunite with Mark Russell, while Godzilla and Kong acknowledge each other before going their separate ways. Sometime later, Ilene and Jia watch Kong, now ruling over the Hollow Earth, from an observation post.

Pros:
1. Godzilla and Kong are both still as awesome as ever, and it's great to see them interact and fight.
2. MechaGodzilla is a great monster villain.
3. Like the other MonsterVerse films, the production value is really impressive.
4. Godzilla, Kong, and MechaGodzilla all have amazing designs.
5. As to be expected by now, the monster fights and action/destruction scenes are a huge spectacle.
6. Spectacular special effects.
7. Jia, Madison, Bernie, and Ren are all decent characters.
8. Great performances from the cast.
9. Like before, there's some decent suspense.
10. The film has a very well balanced tone.
11. Junkie XL's score is really well composed.
12. Like the prior films in the MonsterVerse, the cinematography is excellent.
13. Several memorable moments.
14. The story is pretty decently written and interesting, it's very well paced, there's some pretty neat callbacks to some of the other Kong and Godzilla films, and it really works as a potential finale to the MonsterVerse.

Cons:
1. Josh is an incredibly annoying comic relief.
2. The rest of the characters are easily forgettable and underdeveloped.
3. The story, while good, can be easily predictable, pretty much like any other "vs." movie like this.
4. Like King of the Monsters, the dialogue can be pretty corny at times.

Overall:
While not a perfect movie, this is an epic and fun monster brawl that fans of both Kong and Godzilla will enjoy, and a neat film to close this monster marathon on.

Rating:
7.5/10 (Good to Great)

Production Notes and Trivia:
1. In September 2015, Legendary moved Kong: Skull Island from Universal to Warner Bros., which sparked media speculation that Godzilla and King Kong would appear in a film together. In October 2015, Legendary confirmed that they would unite Godzilla and King Kong in Godzilla vs. Kong, at the time targeted for a May 29, 2020, release. Legendary plans to create a shared cinematic franchise "centered around Monarch" that "brings together Godzilla and Legendary’s King Kong in an ecosystem of other giant super-species, both classic and new." Producer Alex Garcia confirmed that the film will not be a remake of King Kong vs. Godzilla, stating, "the idea is not to remake that movie." In May 2017, Adam Wingard was announced as the director for Godzilla vs. Kong. Wingard had previously been considered by Peter Jackson to direct a sequel to his 2005 version of King Kong that was ultimately went unproduced.
2. In July 2017, Wingard spoke about the outline created by the writers room, stating, "We're going in very great detail through all the characters, the arcs they have, how they relate to one another, and most importantly how they relate to the monsters, and how the monsters relate to them or reflect them." He also stated that he and his team are going "beat by beat" on the outline, stating, "So once again, it's a discussion, and about feeling out how to make it as strong as possible, so that when Terry [Rossio] goes to write the screenplay, he has a definitive breakdown of what to include." Wingard expressed his desire for the film to have a definite winner, and also confirmed that the film will tie in with Godzilla: King of the Monsters, be set in modern times, and feature a "more rugged, a bit more aged Kong."
3. In March 2017, Legendary assembled a writers room to develop the story for Godzilla vs. Kong, with Terry Rossio (who co-wrote an early unproduced script for TriStar's Godzilla) leading a team consisting of Patrick McKay, J. D. Payne, Lindsey Beer, Cat Vasko, T.S. Nowlin, Jack Paglen, and J. Michael Straczynski. Michael Dougherty and Zach Shields, the director and co-writers of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, provided rewrites to ensure that certain themes from King of the Monsters were carried over and that some characters were properly developed. Dougherty revealed how he wrote for the title characters, and how the film would address their differing interactions with people. For Kong, Dougherty stated the film would feature "those very unique, and even warm, bonding moments" between Kong and humans since they've been a staple of the character since the 1933 film. For Godzilla, his connection to humans would be "more implied" as his softer side is rarely shown. Eric Pearson and Max Borenstein received a Screenplay By credit, while Rossio, Dougherty, and Shields received a Story By credit.
4. Principal photography began on November 12, 2018 in Hawaii and Australia and was expected to end in February 2019 under the working title Apex. Production was initially slated to begin on October 1, 2018. For the Hawaii shoot, the crew filmed on the USS Missouri, at Manoa Falls, and in Downtown Honolulu. The crew established a camp in the Kalanianaole Highway, which had been closed until November 21. Local crews and extras were used for the film. In January 2019, filming resumed in Gold Coast, Queensland at Village Roadshow Studios for an additional 26 weeks. Filming locations in Australia included Miami State High School and parts of Brisbane such as the Newstead suburb, the Chinatown Mall in Fortitude Valley, and the Wickham Terrace Car Park. In April 2019, Wingard confirmed via Instagram that filming in Australia had wrapped. That same month, Wingard revealed Hong Kong as one of the final shooting locations and that principal photography had wrapped.

In Conclusion:
King Kong and Godzilla are known throughout film buffs and film historians as the two biggest movie monsters of all time both literally and figuratively. Sure, they may have had a few duds here and there, but that doesn't change the fact that the impact these two beasts had in the realm of cinema is legendary. And now, to close this off, I'm going to be ranking both the Kong films and the Godzilla films in their own respective lists. By the way, this won't include Rodan or the Mothra films.

Kong Films:
10. The Mighty Kong
9. King Kong Lives
8. King Kong (1976)
7. King Kong Escapes
6. Godzilla vs. Kong
5. Son of Kong
4. Kong: Skull Island
3. King Kong (2005)
2. King Kong vs. Godzilla
1. King Kong (1933)

Godzilla Films:
36. All Monsters Attack
35. Godzilla (1998)
34. Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle
33. Ebirah: Horror of the Deep
32. Godzilla vs. Hedorah
31. Godzilla vs. Megaguirus
30. Godzilla vs. Megalon
29. Godzilla vs. Gigan
28. Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters
27. Invasion of Astro-Monster
26. Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla
25. Destroy All Monsters
24. Godzilla (2014)
23. Son of Godzilla
22. Godzilla Raids Again
21. Godzilla vs. Kong
20. Godzilla: The Planet Eater
19. Godzilla 2000: Millennium
18. Godzilla: King of the Monsters
17. Godzilla: Final Wars
16. Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla
15. The Return of Godzilla
14. Godzilla vs. Biollante
13. Ghidorah: The Three-Headed Monster
12. Terror of MechaGodzilla
11. King Kong vs. Godzilla
10. Shin Godzilla
9. Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla II
8. Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.
7. Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla
6. Mothra vs. Godzilla
5. Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
4. Godzilla vs. Mothra
3. Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack
2. Godzilla vs. Destoroyah
1. Godzilla (1954)