Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) is perfect fun.

Ok nothing is perfect but come on, it's close enough. This movie is so much fun, it gives you exactly what you want (three Godzilla vs. Kong fights!), the human characters are great, etc. I really liked Godzilla: King of the Monsters. What they did with Ghidorah, Rodan, and Mothra was incredible but the humans were kind of a mess, which is a shame since they had phenomenal actors. But there were far too many, some were unnecessary, [spoilers ahead] the mom's motivation is difficult to grasp (her son died so she wants to kill all sons? obviously grief affects people in different ways but getting revenge on everyone, killing all of humanity including your daughter, seems a bit much) plus her flip-flopping is also strange (when Charles Dance is in your film, he's the only bad guy you need), etc. [spoilers finished] So I can't fully embrace King of the Monsters, which kinda kills me because Ghidorah is so badass in that movie, the title is the best ever, and Godzilla himself is incredible as well. The fact they managed to make Rodan and Mothra amazing too is just stunning. Millie Bobby Brown is fantastic in it too. But Godzilla vs. Kong really blows it out of the water. The pacing is so good, the film flies by, the human side is streamlined and I like the characters a lot but wisely Kong feels like the lead. Godzilla is badass and the fights between them are brilliant. The first scene of the film is with Kong, just a tad bit later you get awesome Godzilla action as he attacks Apex, back to Kong, not long after that is their first fight, etc. It couldn't be better executed. My one gripe is Mecha's design but it's still pretty good [spoilers] and I love how it turns on its creators [end spoilers]. The film is a blast from start to finish and it's great to rewatch as well. I really love this movie and I hope Wingard gets to direct Destroy All Monsters down the road.

Of course, nothing tops the original Godzilla but for a versus film especially this one, it's really the best we could have hoped for. Godzilla vs. Kong shouldn't be dour and serious. It should be fun and focus on the titular monsters, which this film does really well. I'm sorry but I'm not a huge fan of the old King Kong vs. Godzilla although I need to see the original Japanese version to understand how Ishiro Honda was trying to make a parody and sendup of Japanese TV culture at the time (something lost in the more serious US edit). I'm just so happy we finally got the matchup these two legendary monsters deserve.