TOHO FILMS KONG ONE OF TWO: KING KONG VS GODZILLA

 Especially unique is the artwork at the bottomYEAR: 1962

It was the 1960's, and Bob Dylan was right, "Everybody must get stoned..." King Kong on some kind of treasured berry juice, which sure beats those gas bombs director Carl Denham lobbed in the original 1933 classic....

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And Skull Island, referred to as Kong Island, has a different kind of native: grooving to the same juicy drug, and after the giant ape saves their tribe by battling a slick and oozy octopus (which is paid homage to in the current KONG film), what was a somewhat dull forty minutes leads to a somewhat intriguing plot at hand... finally...

Kong's brought to Tokyo, and, possibly depending on which version, a group of American newscasters provide universal exposition for The English audience...

With the exception of an extremely quick shot of Godzilla screeching through a broken iceberg, he doesn't have much time on his own: it's all about the face-off/smackdown between monstrosities, or in this case, the anticipation of what the title gives away: KING KONG VS GODZILLA.

If only English Speaking Blu Rays looked this great

In a film split in two parts, thankfully the second begins with a train that attracts Godzilla, tripping over electricity while causing all kinds of his usual havoc followed by those classic echoing pterodactyl screams. Since there aren't any characters, really, in either language to care about or invest in, it's the stomping men-in-suit monsters that really count. The lack of urgency for the humans puts more weight on Kong, going from a being a (once again) captured prize to the biggest, baddest bodyguard around. Even in his beginning stages as a fierce monstrosity, he aways swung the sympathy vote since he really just wants to live a reclusive life, ruling his island...

KingZillaScore: ***

And now, symbolically speaking, he's elected to take care of business. As an American newscaster in Tokyo puts it, he's "Determined to kill Godzilla!"

Their first battle is about as exciting as a slumber party pillow fight, and yet the beasts are always a hoot to watch. Meanwhile, the only suspense occurs when it seems Kong has walked out on the fight only to, soon enough, return in a nostalgically violent glory, taking apart a cable car, roaming the city and finding another dream-girl. Old habits die hard; as do cinematic formulas. But it's kind of a shame, with two of the coolest monsters ever created and who both, to this day, have their own reboot franchises, the story gets muddied by too much exposition about what's gonna happen and why, which seem more of a jigsaw patchwork than a fun and pulpy tale... But stay tuned, there's always Toho's second of two Kong adventure, coming up next...