Director Adam Wingard's titanic blockbuster
Godzilla vs. Kong absolutely delivers on the heavyweight brawl promised in the title, but
it's very light on logic. Perplexed by the plot of Godzilla vs. Kong? Here are the most confusing moments, explained. In Godzilla vs. Kong, major concepts get brief
bits of exposition. Hollow Earth, for example, is a major plot
point, but most of its history is only laid out during the opening credits. As the credits state, in 1926, an American
admiral led an expedition to the North Pole, although it's not clear if he found Hollow
Earth. This admiral is very clearly supposed to be
Richard E. Byrd, a real-life figure who's inexorably linked to the idea of Hollow Earth. In 1926, Byrd voyaged to the North Pole, although
whether he actually succeeded is a matter of debate. Byrd has since become a pivotal figure in
the real-life Hollow Earth conspiracy theory (yeah, that's a thing), and Godzilla vs. Kong
has embraced that, making him one of the first Hollow Earth pioneers, at least in the MonsterVerse. Even if you accept the idea that there are
tunnels burrowing through Earth, hiding tropical landscapes and long-lost civilizations, Godzilla
vs. Kong's Hollow Earth is a little confusing. The "gravity paradox" allowing Kong to jump
Mario Galaxy-style from one landmass to another, and making entry to Hollow Earth so dangerous,
doesn't really make sense. Also, it's awfully bright down there, given
that the sun is on the other side of the Earth's surface. Godzilla vs. Kong never explicitly explains
how all of this works, but it's easy to come up with some suitable theories. After all, the concept of Hollow Earth has
been a mainstay in mythology, folklore, and kooky pseudoscience for centuries. Jules Verne's 1864 novel Journey to the Center
of the Earth, while explicitly fiction, uses electromagnetic phenomena, a "luminous cloud"
of gas, and glowing lichen to explain why there's light inside. In 1913, Canadian Marshall Gardner published
his admittedly non-scientific treatise A Journey to the Earth's Interior, which argued that
there could be a second, smaller sun inside the Earth, which is a possible explanation
for the source of Hollow Earth's light and its wonky physics in the MonsterVerse. Of course, in this case, the simplest explanation
may be the best: Some fans think that the Earth's core provides both gravity and light
to Hollow Earth. Hey, as far as pseudoscience goes, it works. Kind of. Ren Serizawa, Apex Cybernetics' CTO and Mechagodzilla's
ill-fated pilot, gets a big introduction in Godzilla vs. Kong, but doesn't really seem
like much more than a hired goon in the end. Why give such a minor character so much focus? There's actually a very good reason: You wouldn't
catch this unless you're all caught up on your MonsterVerse lore, but as Ren's last
name implies, he's the son of Monarch scientist Ishiro Serizawa. Ishiro first appeared in 2014's Godzilla,
where he served as an advocate for the big lizard, and returned for 2019's Godzilla:
King of the Monsters, in which his bond with the Titan grew even closer. Correctly surmising that Godzilla was nature's
defense against both the Titans and environmental ruin, Serizawa sacrificed his life to detonate
the nuclear bomb that nursed an injured Godzilla back to health, giving the monster the strength
he needed to stop Ghidorah and his reign of terror. In Godzilla vs. Kong, Kong looks very different
from when we last saw him in Kong: Skull Island. Basically, he's bigger. A whole lot bigger. In Skull Island, which takes place in 1973,
the ape is a mere 104 feet tall. By 2024, when Godzilla vs. Kong takes place,
he's grown to 337 feet, according to an official poster for the movie. There's an obvious reason for the size change. In order to make Kong a credible threat to
Godzilla, who stands at a whopping 393 feet, Kong needs to be in at least the same weight
class. However, there's an in-universe reason as
to why Kong grew over 300% bigger, too. "You don't want to wake up the big one." "How big is it?" "It's bigger. Took out his whole family. Kong is the last of his kind, but he's still
growing." By the time Godzilla vs. Kong rolls around,
he's gone through a major growth-spurt — and, as far as we know, will keep getting larger. Either way, this is a major upgrade for Kong,
who was only 18 feet tall during the jungle scenes in his 1933 debut feature, and 24 feet
in the sequences set in New York City. That makes sense, though. In the 1933 movie, Kong has to climb the Empire
State Building, which stands at 1,250 feet and is taken out by a handful of biplanes. In Godzilla vs. Kong, he's knocking over entire
skyscrapers without a second thought. So, yeah, it's a big difference. If you thought that, hey, maybe building a
robotic titan out of one of the most dangerous kaiju ever was a bad idea, then guess what? You were right. As Godzilla vs. Kong reveals, Mechagodzilla
was constructed out of two skulls harvested from Godzilla: King of the Monsters' main
villain, the three-headed monster known as both Monster Zero and Ghidorah. One skull is inside the robot. The other houses the piloting interface that
Ren Serizawa uses to control Mechagodzilla, and communicates with the mechanical Titan
using Ghidorah's innate psychic abilities. At least, that's the plan. When Apex injects Mechagodzilla with the Hollow
Earth power source, Ren loses control of the beast. The movie doesn't make this entirely clear,
so just in case you were wondering: This isn't just Mechagodzilla going rogue. In this moment, Ghidorah's consciousness actually
takes over Mechagodzilla's mechanical body, bringing him back to life. This makes the following Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
fight much more personal. This is a grudge match. Both monsters have personal stakes. Teenage monster-hunter Madison, conspiracy
theorist Bernie, and Madison's buddy Josh go on a pretty circuitous journey while uncovering
Apex's plans for Mechagodzilla. First, Bernie downloads classified information
from an Apex computer, learning that the company is making many mysterious shipments to Hong
Kong. Next, he sneaks into a restricted area in
Apex's Pensacola laboratory, catching a glimpse of an ominous device during the middle of
Godzilla's attack. Later, Bernie takes Madison and Josh to see
the machine, only to discover it's missing. From there, the trio get caught in one of
the Hong Kong-bound crates. There, they learn that the mystery cargo consists
of Skullcrawler eggs, which are usually only found on Skull Island. Once they're in Hong Kong, the unlikely investigators
see a live Skullcrawler — and watch, horrified, as Mechagodzilla utterly destroys it, finally
revealing Apex's master plan. That's a very roundabout way to reveal Mechagodzilla,
and you'd be forgiven for losing some of the plot along the way. For example, what is that thing that Bernie
sees during Godzilla's initial onslaught? While some fans seem to think that it's a
variation on the ORCA device used to lure Titans in Godzilla: King of the Monsters,
and Bernie seems to forget about it entirely once Mechagodzilla is revealed, it looks like
it's one of Mechagodzilla's glowing red eyes. Look at the close-up on the eye when Mechagodzilla
wakes up. It's clearly the same thing. Godzilla relies on more than just brute strength. In addition to his size, he has a number of
powers, including his iconic atomic breath, that he uses to decimate his foes. And so, in order to give Kong a fighting chance,
Godzilla vs. Kong had to even the odds by giving the giant primate an axe, which comes
with some special abilities of its own. Not only is the axe key to unlocking Hollow
Earth's ultra-potent power source, but it can absorb Godzilla's atomic breath and dish
it back to him. However, Godzilla vs. Kong only hints at where
the axe came from, and doesn't spend much time explaining how it works. For that, you need to turn to a Collider interview
with Godzilla vs. Kong writer and key MonsterVerse contributor Max Borenstein. Borenstein told the outlet, "To me, it's like Godzilla's scales have this
conductive, radioactive quality, and the primate Kongs had a kind of evolved civilization of
sorts, as primates might, and simple tools, and had used the spine of a Godzilla creature
to create it." So, yeah, the axe blade's resemblance to Godzilla's
back spikes isn't an accident. The axe is literally made out of the body
of Godzilla's ancestor. Other than that, Borenstein isn't saying much
else about the axe's history, although there's clearly more there to explore. Director Adam Wingard told Collider, "It's something that we just kind of tease
at in the movie and hopefully we can explore in later films." One of the coolest moments in Godzilla vs.
Kong occurs when Godzilla, suddenly alarmed by Kong's activation of the Hollow Earth energy
source, fires up his atomic breath and blows a hole to the center of the Earth, opening
a new passage from Hollow Earth to the surface. It's also, unfortunately, one of the most
confusing moments. How does Godzilla know what Kong is up to,
for one, and why doesn't the gravity barrier that made travel between the two realms so
difficult seem to apply here? The answer to that first question is implied,
although not outright stated, in the previous MonsterVerse films. The first MonsterVerse film, 2014's Godzilla,
establishes that Titans like Godzilla are drawn to immense power sources, especially
nuclear ones. When Kong powers up the Hollow Earth throne
room, it seems likely that Godzilla simply detected the energy surge, particularly if
his "genetic memory" — something we know the Titans have — kicked in. After all, they're probably encountered the
energy before. As for the gravity barrier, well, there are
a few possible explanations. Maybe Godzilla's atomic breath disrupted the
barrier that separates Hollow Earth from our world. Maybe the veil only applies to the Hollow
Earth tunnel in Antarctica — in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, for example, Monarch's
submarine has a much easier time reaching Godzilla's Hollow Earth hideout. Most likely, however, is that the sequence
is just awkwardly cut. We see Kong and the Hollow Earth expedition's
HEAV head into the tunnel, but we don't see most of their time passing through. Besides, when he emerges, Nathan yells, "We're
about to breach the veil," so it seems like it still happens. It's just not as visually spectacular as before. By that point in the story, there's plenty
else to look at, after all. Godzilla vs. Kong director Adam Wingard promised
that the titular brawl would have a definitive winner, and he didn't lie. However, some viewers seem to think that the
movie ended in a draw. It's easy to see how they'd reach that conclusion. Like the best superhero team-ups, Kong and
Godzilla ultimately put aside their differences and work together to take out the bad guy,
Mechagodzilla. By the time the credits roll, the two Titans
have struck up a begrudging truce and gone their separate ways. Now, Godzilla rules over the surface, while
Hollow Earth is Kong's domain. Before they make an uneasy peace, however,
the epic clash has a clear winner: Godzilla. There's no doubt about it. Kong and Godzilla battle two times in the
movie, once while Kong is en route to Antarctica, and again in Hong Kong. The first fight isn't even close. The fight begins with Kong drugged and shackled,
and takes place in the ocean, Godzilla's home turf. Kong doesn't stand a chance. The second fight is more even, thanks to the
neutral ground and Kong's axe, but Godzilla still has the upper hand. Yes, after absorbing Godzilla's atomic breath
with his axe and delivering a near-knockout blow, Nathan says, "Looks like round two goes
to Kong." But just a few minutes later, Godzilla is
back on his feet, and Kong gets beaten so hard that his heart begins to stop, and the
humans have to jumpstart the big guy to keep him from dying. Face it: Kong might be cinematic royalty,
but when it comes down to it, Godzilla is the true king of the monsters. Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus, even more Looper videos about Godzilla
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