Godzilla vs Kong 3D Movie Review

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Godzilla vs Kong 3D Movie Review

Written By: Adolph Vega

3D

Inconsistent is the best word to describe the 3D visuals in Godzilla vs Kong. I was pleasantly surprised by how well the 3D looked in darkly lit scenes (your experience may vary). Overall the 3D seems muted. Some scenes only seem to have three layers (foreground, mid ground and background) of 3D. The 3D seems fine but rarely did I feel like a scene wowed me. Pop out 3D is fairly rare in this movie. All that being said I still enjoyed the 3D aspect of this movie. The various action set pieces are more fun in 3D. When the action gets going and stuff is flying around it can be a very immersive visual experience. The 3D did help make Kong and Godzilla look more lifelike. I feel like the 3D could have looked better in many scenes. I would have loved for Kong and/or Godzilla to escape the bounds of the aspect ratio and really pop off the screen, but sadly that didn’t happen. I can’t specify a specific scene when the 3D really shined. The 3D was fine throughout with some peppered moments of greatness. In closing I think 3D fans will find enough enjoyable moments to make the 3D barely worthwhile. 

Final Verdict: Good 3D

Movie

Godzilla vs Kong is not an art house film. Godzilla vs Kong is a stupid fun action movie, nothing more than less.

The plot of Godzilla vs Kong is essentially just a thin pathetic excuse to have Kong and Godzilla fight. Godzilla has recently attacked a city and nobody knows why. The story is split between two subplots and neither are especially strong or interesting. The first subplot follows Millie Bobby Brown’s character “Madison Russell”. Madison is essentially the leader of a trio who are investigating the Apex corporation and the possible connection to the unprovoked Godzilla attack. The other subplot revolves around moving Kong from skull island to the center of the earth. Apparently Kong and Godzilla are ancient rivals and are destined to fight as they are both alpha predators. The two subplots eventually join together to make a weak narrative. This is the forth movie in the titan monster movie universe, and it has possibly the stupidest plot of the series. Several times as I watched this movie I just rolled my eyes at the various illogical and silly decisions that are made in this movie. This is almost as dumb as your average Transformer’s movie. You don’t need to watch the other titan monster movies  (Godzilla [2014], Kong Skull Island , Godzilla King of the Monsters ) to understand this movie as many of the characters in this movie are new. This movie does connect and build upon the previous movies but it all barely makes any sense. For God sakes this is a movie with a giant ape fighting a giant lizard so you just have to accept this movie as is. The movie is almost a self parodying itself in how dumb it is. All the characters are fine and I don’t hate nor love any of them. The story of Godzilla vs Kong is forgettable hodgepodge collection of action movie cliches. Despite all the flaws in the story I still enjoyed it and was never bored.

Action scenes are the reason why you want to watch this movie and it delivers in that regard. I found the action set pieces to be very fun to watch. The action is well choreographed and is well shot (no ugly background colors and odd camera angles). The outstanding special effects perfectly compliment the action. I enjoyed how the filmmakers animated the titans. Kong and Godzilla both look and behave in a very lifelike manor. They have a real presence on screen and a real weight to them. It's a joy to watch these titans fight. Only one action scene disappointed me. Maybe they ran out of money because this Hong Kong scene was mostly in the background and felt super short. Regarding the action I think most people will walk away from this film satisfied and very happy. 

In closing Godzilla vs Kong is a dumb fun movie. I was entertained and I can recommend it. 

Final Verdict: 7/10

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Official Websites :

https://www.warnerbros.com/movies/godzilla-vs-kong

https://www.godzillavskong.com

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Raya and the Last Dragon 3D Movie Review

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Raya and the Last Dragon 3D Movie Review

Written By: Jacob Scarberry

3D


I had high hopes for the 3D aspect of Raya and The Last Dragon, sadly the 3D seems like your standard Pixar 3D animated film ( A Nice Afterthought ). Based on the excellent Disney + 4K 2D stream of this movie and the abundance of vibrant colors popping off the screen I expected more from the 3D aspect of this movie.

Starting with the positive aspects of the 3D, everything just seemed natural. The 3D has natural spacing between the layers of fore, middle and background elements. Overall the 3D details were amazingly abundant and the depth was just outstanding. The settings were beautifully designed and fully enveloped to the point of it looking like the real deal, instead of a computer creation. The water effects are bar none the best that I have ever seen. The 3D greatly increased how real various objects felt on screen. Overall the 3D depth is rather spectacular.

Depth wide the 3D works well, however, nothing really popped out of the screen towards the audience. Beyond a slight jutting out of the sword, some water / rain  splashes , nothing really broke out of the screen, despite the massive opportunities throughout this movie. We do have a few examples of pop out 3D: The water droplets from Sisu (The Last Dragon), the several fights between the characters, and some random shrimp being thrown at Raya. I wanted more pop out 3D for this movie. 

All in all the 3D highlights are few and far between. The various rain scenes where the camera is panning up or down look very nice in 3D. Another noteworthy scene is where, one character aims the crossbow at Raya and a bit of it pops out of the screen. Finally the cave scene with the exploding beetles looks especially nice in 3D.  

The 3D aspect of Raya and the Last Dragon is a very solid effort from Disney, but it simply left me wanting more. 

Final Verdict: Good 3D

Movie

I traveled nearly fifty miles in the hills of West Virginia to watch this movie in 3D. This was during the covid-19 pandemic. My epic long journey to watch this movie in 3D took me through winding roads, up and down the various mountains, into a few valleys and I even crossed a few rivers. All this to watch a movie that I already seen at home but now in 3D in a theatre. Call me crazy if you must, but I just had to do it, partially because no closer theater had it available in 3D, but mostly because I am so dedicated to 3D . These are desperate times and I rose to the occasion, for Raya and the Last Dragon.

Raya and the Last Dragon is a Disney animated movie that takes place in a fictional asian land, that has been splintered into five nations: Talon, Spine, Tail, Fang and Heart. After a series of errors and mistrust, Raya must reawaken Sisu the titular last dragon. Sisu is the only hope to try to reunite this divided world. Sisu is able to do many amazing feats, but it can’t help me love this movie. Asian lore is abundant in this movie. All the usual Disney tropes are also present in this movie. This movie has a young princess, cute animals, and some surprising racial stereotypes. It’s all very familiar and it’s told with a lack of grace and talent. The film just keeps hitting you over the head with obvious metaphors and awkward modern humor. This style of humor makes no sense at all in this story. Raya and the Last dragon fumbles the narrative ball. 

Raya and the Last Dragon’s vocal cast is largely decent. Kelly Marie Tran is better here as Raya than she was as Rose in the Star Wars sequels.  Gemma Chan, Daniel Dae, Sandra Oh and Benedict Wong are all delivering fine work. The one noteworthy exception is Awkwafina who is woefully miscast as Sisu. I like Awkwafina, she's funny and can act, but this character and her portrayal are jarring and downright grating at times. I feel bad for poor Alan Tudyk who was Tuk Tuk (a pillbug/armadillo-like creature that Raya rides on). Alan Tudyk is sorely underused to the point of not being needed to voice the basic grunts of this creature. What a waste! 

Luckily, the movie looks and sounds amazing. This movie showcases many beautiful locations and it has top notch animation. The sets, character designs, particle / hair effects, and water effects are all amazing throughout. I cannot deny how pretty this movie is. The sound design and musical compositions are also very well done. The score by James Newton Howard is excellent and it really captures the asian vibe. The sound and visuals match each other perfectly. The movie has no musical numbers and that is fine by me. 


Raya and the Last Dragon is a good but not a great movie. This film has a basic storyline with underdeveloped ideas, forced humor, and a miscast co-lead (Awkwafina). The 3D is nice and it satisfied me enough to make rewatching this movie worthwhile. This is a beautifully animated movie that sadly doesn’t live up to its potential.

Final Verdict: 7/10

Official Website :

 https://movies.disney.com/raya-and-the-last-dragon

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