King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) review
This movie writes itself. We take their biggest monster and put it in the ring with our biggest beast. It is a perfect setup.
King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) is iconic. Not just because of the star power of the two titular kaiju. It is the sheer indulgence in making a movie that’s just a pretense to bash your two favorite toys together. The concept of a monster mashup was not invented here. My movie-watching comrade helpfully informed me that Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943) predates it at the very least. And to be honest, I do not claim to be a film scholar. I have zero clue if that is the first or not either.
But King Kong and Godzilla. There is just something more to these two. Something grander. Part of the charm is what these two represent. The makers of Godzilla have stated in interviews that seeing King Kong (1933) for the first time evoked that feeling of »Wait, you can do that??«. The impetus for making Godzilla in the first place was to walk the road that King Kong paved, giving it a japanese twist while updating it for a modern audience. So instead of stop-motion Godzilla was made with lavishly built suits and meticulous model sets.
Fittingly, King Kong vs Godzilla feels like a love letter to this one movie that really inspired the creators of Godzilla. It honestly has more in common with fanfiction — if not in production, then in vibes alone. There is a reverence for the namesake that is almost touching. A thing that trips me up with this movie is the title itself. It is King Kong vs. Godzilla and not Godzilla vs. King Kong — the only Godzilla feature that does not put our atomic pal in the forefront.
The main plot of the movie is almost a parodic retelling of the original King Kong. Two bumbling Japanese salarymen are sent to Kong’s Island in order to create a promotional stunt for the pharmaceutical company they work for. Through quick wit they manage to capture Kong and bring the ape back to Japan, but something naturally goes wrong. Kong’s escape luckily coincides with Godzilla breaking free from its icy prison, setting the stage for the matchup of the century. While the plot is quite silly on its face, there’s a jovial 60s charm to the whole affair. Gone is the existential dread of the 50s. Here in ‘62 there is no problem that cannot be resolved with a clever ploy and some improvisation. It gives the movie a decidedly innocent feel that is in stark contrast with what came before.
The main issue with the plot is frankly the rampant racism on display. Scenes on Kong’s home island are filled to the brim with Japanese actors in black face. I would feel amiss if I did not point out that this is some old-school racism, but I am not sure I have anything meaningful to comment, other than it sure puts a damper on the enjoyment of watching the movie.
Along the way, key scenes from the original King Kong are recreated with no hint of irony. Seeing Kong kidnap the main protagonist’s sister and climb the not-that-tall National Diet Building is more laugh-inducing than dramatic, but it is played completely straight. Again, it’s almost charming how enamoured the creators were with the idea of this movie.
The veneration is even extended to the fight itself. This setup is rife for the time-honoured tradition of nerdy kids arguing online of »who would win?« And I am not immune to some good ol’ debate about powerlevels. And look — let me level with you here. On paper there is not much of a fight. While its proportions are pretty inconsistent — King Kong is at best a measly 15 meters. And the big ape does not have much else going on for it beyond its sheer size. In comparison, Godzilla towers above the puny primate with its massive height of 50 meters. Just the sheer difference in weight class should be enough to put my radioactive boy one top. But just to rub it in, Godzilla comes equipped with a destructive atomic breath enabling long-ranged attacks that Kong simply has no real counter for. Famously, King Kong was bested by pathetic man-made weapons, whereas Godzilla was impervious to anything the army could throw at it.
All I am saying is that the deck is kinda stacked here. For this reason the filmmakers wisely snuck in some much needed upgrades for Team Ape. Firstly, Kong is scaled up considerably. Secondly, the plot gives the hunky gorilla a newfound connection to storms. First time watching the movie we threw up our hands in exasperation when Kong — at the edge of defeat — was resuscitated by lightning. What an asspull! But on a rewatch I gotta admit that this is actually established quite well in the plot itself. Oh well.
The coolest part of the movie is arguably also this moment where a reinvigorated Kong pummels Godzilla with lightning induced strikes. I cannot tell you how that works, but it sure looks cool. I think I read somewhere, that at some point in the production, Kong’s part was initially intended for Frankenstein. The connection to lightning is supposedly vestige from that — although do not hang me up on that.
Something that is immediately apparent going from two prior movies is the jump in time. Gone is the classic black & white look, and in is the warm embrace of technicolor. While the original from 1954 was beautiful in its own right, the jump to colour and a widescreen format definitely gives this movie a more cinematic flair. There is especially something about the colour palette that really sells the everyman adventure fantasy and gives the movie a welcoming mood.
Ten years ago, I remember being utterly unimpressed by the special effects. For example: at one point there is a scene where the image of an octopus has simply been projected up on screen in front of a bunch of extras. But on this rewatch I will admit to actually buying the effect this time — maybe due to the quality of the version we got our hands on. The only sleight on the looks of the film is that the visual fidelity is highly inconsistent. I am not sure if this is because of the version we watched, but shots would fluctuate between looking crisp to grimy within the same scene.
At some point the movie decides to end. That is how it feels to me at least. After a final exchange of blows King Kong and Godzilla tumbles off a cliff and credits roll. My best guess is that our two main fighters both had it written in their contract that they could not lose, because it is extremely anticlimactic. In the end King Kong vs. Godzilla is not my favourite Godzilla flick. To be completely honest, it is a rough watch and more interesting than entertaining. But I think it is worth a watch, just for the audacity of the premise and the gung-ho way they decided to make it real.
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