man, if there's one thing film has really been missing during the pandemic (you know, besides most other things), it is big dumb fun. and with godzilla vs. kong we have the biggest, dumbest fun i've seen in remotely recent memory. adam wingard's kaiju vs. giant ape smackdown makes the fast & furious movies look grounded in realism by comparison, but it doesn't forget to make things as enjoyable as those are. let's get this part out of the way real quick: there is nothing about this plot that makes a lick of sense. it's all ridiculous wackiness about hollow earth and psionic interfaces and nuclear breath axes and everything else under the sun. but this is one of those examples of where the silliness isn't a bug; it's a feature. the writing team of eric pearson, max borenstein (working off a earlier scripts by terry rossio, michael dougherty and zach shields) clearly know this is all nonsense and they get in on the joke. no one is here to see the human drama, but with the various human groups all working at different purposes it provides for a lot of dorky exposition that strikes that balance between provoking eye-rolling and grins. that includes plot points involving the corporation godzilla is attacking, the tech behind getting to hollow earth, and conspiracy theory posse (brian tyree henry, millie bobby brown, and julian dennison) trying to get to the bottom of things. somehow, amidst all the "that's not how any of this works!" loopiness, wingard finds the balance to make the dumb stuff fun. and even if it doesn't hit for someone, it should at least pass the time for some truly awesome, ecw falls count anywhere hardcore match-style fights. wingard directs the action with a lot of panache and goes full into full "rock vs. jason statham" brawl mode here. the action isn't hidden with funky angles, darkness, or careful camera shots; these are full-on daylight beatdowns and they're a blast. the cast is fine here and carry the film okay. henry and dennison provide some humor, alexander skarsgård and rebecca hall are fine, and both demián bichir and eiza gonzález chew effective scenery in their roles. young kaylee hottle is a delight as jia, the iwi girl who is kong's best friend, and she gets some good scenes with him. is this great cinema? no, not at all. is it fantastic popcorn entertainment? absolutely. godzilla vs. kong is a blast from start to finish as long as you can avoid overthinking the plot points and let it take you on a spectacular visual effects-laden ride. that's all i needed.