Kong-mukt Hong Kong, good-riddanced ’Zilla?

If the new 'Godzilla vs Kong' film tells us something, it simply is that when a giant ape and a humungous prehistoric sea monster clash, try and not be collateral damage. Adam Wingard may have directed this movie, but the real object for the lizard brain in every human watching the show is not any story or script, but the spectacle of violence on CGI display.

If that sounds rather unsubtle, that’s how this monster mash goes. Even with no skin in the game, the spectator, by the pull of one’s primal urges, will end up taking sides: Kong or Godzilla. The film loads the die against the giant reptile, since it is the primate that is brought in to save the world — in this case, Hong Kong, but do fill the place of your choice — from the tail and jaws of scaly destruction. But depending on your taste for top dog or underdog, you will end up backing either Godzilla or Kong… till the end.

This film, running over two hours, understandably moves in multiple phases. Humans seem to be exercising control over the whole tantalising affair. But like in some other gargantuan battles underway in the real world, they actually serve only as fodder, part of the scenery waiting to be destroyed by something bigger, nastier than themselves. Will Godzilla be good-riddanced? Or will spectators see a Kong-mukt landscape? Watch that space — from a safe distance.