Yahoo Movies What's wrong with Godzilla in the Godzilla vs Kong trailer, explained
Godzilla vs Kong's first trailer has arrived with a great big stomp, giving us a generous look at the giant lizard and ape in combat.
Some colossal blows are landed, there's talk of an ancient monster war, new kaiju threats make an appearance, and we even get to see how Kong will deal with Godzilla's atomic belch (like an absolute don, it turns out).
However, our first proper look at Legendary Pictures' upcoming MonsterVerse movie also raises one major question: why has everyone's favourite 400ft reptile seemingly had a massive change of heart?
Related: Why Godzilla can't lose in Godzilla vs Kong
As we've already pointed out, Godzilla has been anything but the villain in his past two outings, having been reimagined as an essential element in the balance of nature, defending Earth from other monstrous threats and seeking out radioactive anomalies. He's already saved everyone's skin twice in 2014's Godzilla and 2019's King of the Monsters.
But, as the trailer for the upcoming monster mash-up seems to indicate, Godzilla will this time be the antagonist of the story. Initially, at least.
"Godzilla's out there, he's hurting people and we don't know why," says Kyle Chandler's scientist Mark Russell in-between shots of the scaly behemoth terrorising cities and knocking jets out of the sky. He's back on a Toho-style rampage (Godzilla, not Kyle Chandler), but it appears there's a logical explanation for it.
"There's something provoking him that we're not seeing here," says Mark's daughter Madison (Millie Bobby Brown), who looks like she'll be on a personal mission to prove Godzilla's actually quite a nice guy.
Perhaps he's being controlled in some way or he's sensing an unusual amount of radioactive activity, which is prompting him to blast the ground around him like a treasure digger who opts for dynamite instead of a spade. But what is he searching for?
If you've watched the trailer 47 times like us, you'll know Mechagodzilla will be making an appearance in the movie, most likely as humanity's method of 'defence' against the Titans (because that won't make things worse, surely).
The giant, robotic lizard pops up in the first few seconds of the trailer as he swoops over understandably terrified-looking civilians, and we also see his blueprints on a screen behind Shun Oguri's Ren Serizawa, who undoubtedly wants to avenge his father, Ishiro (Ken Watanabe), after he sacrificed himself in King of the Monsters.
It could be that the energy required to power Mechagodzilla is what's provoking Godzilla or, as some fans are suggesting, the robot is actually framing his biological counterpart. Seems a bit far-fetched, but then this is a movie about a giant lizard and ape slapping each other around.
In any case, we surely know where this one is going. Once Mechagodzilla is unleashed and inevitably starts to malfunction due to some dodgy malware, Godzilla and Kong will have to set aside their differences and form the partnership to end all partnerships, thus proving that "one will fall" tagline to be a big fat lie.
Even so, Kong is quite clearly presented as the true hero of the movie, having curiously assumed the title of humanity's favourite beast. "We need Kong. The world needs him," says Alexander Skarsgård's geologist Nathan Lind, as the ape is shipped in from Skull Island to help out with their radioactive lizard problem.
Most likely to the disgust of Team Godzilla members, the trailer sees Kong getting the better of his amphibious foe on more than one occasion, landing a devastating haymaker to his bonce and also deflecting his nuclear blast with a massive axe, fashioned from one of the reptile’s back spikes (this Kong is a resourceful chap).
The pair may team up in the end when they realise it was all just a big misunderstanding, but for the vast majority of the movie, it appears humanity will be cheering on the guy with the hairy knuckles.
Let's just hope they can find a big enough banana to reward him.
Godzilla vs Kong is coming soon to the UK and will premiere in cinemas and on HBO Max on March 26 in the US. Godzilla: King of the Monsters is available now on Blu-ray, DVD and 4K.
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