WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Godzilla vs. Kong, now in theaters and streaming on HBO Max.
One of the biggest drawbacks of 2014's Godzilla was the darkness in Gareth Edwards' fight sequences. The grim effect the director was going for is understandable, with him wanting to create a bleak world to have Godzilla in a more sinister, intimidating light, but it took away from the film, especially because the beast wasn't seen much in battle until the very end. The same thing, oddly enough, happened in Michael Dougherty's King of the Monsters, and it was even worse. There were a lot more fights in the film, but it just wasn't as visible as fans would have liked. Thankfully, director Adam Wingard's visual aesthetic in Godzilla vs. Kong fixes all of those issues.
Kong: Skull Island paved the way with amazing fight sequences in the daylight, which allowed fans to truly soak in the choreography. It was a smart move by director Jordan Vogt-Roberts, and now, Wingard follows suit by having Kong and Godzilla's first fight at sea be on top of battleships. It's quite the spectacle, and even when they go into the murky waters, the movie doesn't obscure what's happening. This kind of clarity makes for a much better cinematic experience, and even later on, when Kong's fighting the Wingbats and other monsters in Hollow Earth, Wingard ensures the fight is as visible as possible.
Wingard's knack for powerful visuals was clear in some of his earlier work, but it reaches new heights in Godzilla vs. Kong's Hong Kong, which is a neon-soaked environment fans of Blade Runner would love. This location provides the audience with a dynamic arena the likes of which they've never seen. The neon allows for more connection to both Titans as they battle, and it even adds a bit of video game flair using Godzilla's atomic body and Kong's glowing ax.
Sure, the fight's at night, which comes with its own set of challenges but everything can be seen, and with a futuristic look and synth-wave sound, it's an intense and dramatic conflict that doesn't come off too operatic. This direction becomes even more impactful when Mechagodzilla arrives and fights the two titular monsters at the break of dawn. The pacing is on point and audiences aren't left breaking their necks trying to understand what's going on in the fight, which really helps Godzilla vs. Kong feel like the ultimate monster movie.
Directed by Adam Wingard and written by Eric Pearson and Max Borenstein, Godzilla vs. Kong stars Alexander Skarsgard, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall and Brian Tyree Henry. The film arrives in theaters and on HBO Max on March 31.