The 13 Most Insane Parts of ‘Godzilla Vs Kong’

(It should go without saying that this article will contain many spoilers for “Godzilla vs Kong”)

“Godzilla vs Kong,” the culmination of the Warner Bros. MonsterVerse, is finally here in theaters and HBO Max. And it just might be the craziest movie of the year, which is really saying something so soon after the release of “Zack Snyder’s Justice League.” I didn’t think director Adam Wingard and co. could outdo the battiness of “Godzilla: King of the Monsters,” but they managed to pull it off.

So as we all bask in the glow of the madness of “Godzilla vs Kong,” let’s reflect on some of the wildest parts that this monster mashup has to offer.

*1. Godzilla flips the boat*

“Godzilla vs Kong” keeps it pretty low key, relatively speaking, until Godzilla and King Kong have their first meeting in the middle of the ocean. When Godzilla shows up and starts demolishing the fleet of ships carrying Kong to Antarctica, Kong is chained up and somewhat sedated on the flagship, unable to break free.

*Also Read:* 'Godzilla vs Kong' Explodes to $121.8 Million Opening at Overseas Box Office

And then Godzilla flips Kong’s ship over, leaving Kong and a bunch of main characters in a pretty stick situation. Fortunately, Dr. Lind (Alexander Skarsgard) manages to free Kong from his restraints, and Kong returns the favor by turning the ship right side up.

*2. Kong throws a fighter jet at Godzilla*

Later in that same fight, Kong pulls one of the sickest moves in the whole film when he climbs up onto an aircraft carrier, grabs a fighter jet off the deck, and chucks it at Godzilla. It didn’t do much, of course, but it was super cool to watch.

*3. The laser light show at the center of the Earth*

You’re probably confused as to what was going on when Kong led a convoy of humans down to the Hollow Earth, and for good reason: nobody really explains it well. But, basically, as they move toward the center of the Earth there’s a “gravitational inversion” — this is, from what I can tell, referring to when the gravity shifts halfway down. As in, the transition from surface gravity, which pulls you toward the Earth’s core, and Hollow Earth gravity, which pulls you outward instead.

*Also Read:* Top 10 Highest-Grossing Monster Movies, From 'Godzilla' to 'King Kong' (Photos)

This is not really a sound scientific concept, for the record, since gravitational principals preclude the possibility of a Hollow Earth. But that’s not important.

What is important is that when this “gravitational inversion” occurs, it’s incredibly cool to look at. Just a really trippy few seconds of weird and novel visuals — exactly what we want from this movie.

*4. Kong kills a winged serpent and eats its head*

The Hollow Earth part of the movie is really wild, just chock full of Jules Verne craziness. Such as numerous new beasties, including a pair of winged serpents who decide the human ships look tasty. So Kong, with an assist from the humans, takes them both down. And then he tears off one of the heads and starts eating it.

*5. Kong learns about gravity*

We all like to act like these big monsters are just dumb animals, but Kong puts the lie to that in this movie. It turns out he casually learned sign language at some point, and when he climbs a big mountain in the Hollow Earth and encounters some glowing, floating purple rocks, it takes him about five seconds to understand the weird way gravity works down there. Probably much faster than humans would.

*Also Read:* How Martian Manhunter Ended Up in 'Zack Snyder's Justice League'

But honestly what’s really crazy about this bit is just that it’s in the movie at all. This sequence is super bizarre visually, looking more like something you might expect to see in “Star Wars.” But that alien-ness is a big part of why this sequence is so sick.

*6. Kong visits the ancient giant monkey temple*

But the weirdness levels increased dramatically moments later when Kong arrives at a place that looks like an old temple built by Kong’s ancestors. Indeed, he finds what we can only assume is his magic family hatchet, which can harness the energy of the Hollow Earth. And then he sits on his ancestral throne? Is Kong the king of the underworld?

*7. Apex 3D prints the power of Godzilla*

So the Apex folks who traveled into the Hollow Earth take a sample of the blue energy rocks down there, email the specs back to the folks on the surface, and they immediately start juicing up Mechagodzilla with it. Which is crazy! They didn’t have to update their systems or anything.

*Also Read:* 'Zack Snyder's Justice League': We Need to Talk About That Awful Joker Scene

*8. Godzilla blows a hole in the Earth*

Eventually, when Godzilla decides its time for the final showdown, he walks into the middle of Hong Kong and fires his laser breath directly into the ground — and this blast manages to reach all the way down into the ancient giant monkey temple. Which is thousands of miles down. While not as efficient as a Death Star, Godzilla clearly has the power to destroy the Earth if he was really determined to do so, which is a startling realization.

*9. Apex had a secret underground worldwide travel system like in “Men in Black”*

“Godzilla vs Kong” is so ridiculous that you could very easily just forget that Apex has secret underground shipping tunnels crisscrossing the globe. And nobody knows about it, even apparently many of the people who work in the Apex facilities that have these tunnels in them. It’s just this random little weird detail, but it’s pretty wild nonetheless when you think about it.

*10. Apex accidentally puts Ghidorah’s soul into Mechagodzilla*

So apparently Apex has been using one of Ghidorah’s heads as a supercomputer to help a human pilot control Mechagodzilla. But when they inject the Hollow Earth energy into Mechagodzilla, everything goes haywire, killing the pilot and giving Mechagodzilla a mind of its own.

*Also Read:* Every DC Comics Movie Ranked, Including 'Zack Snyder's Justice League'

While it’s never explained what’s going on there, I’m assuming it’s just like when Stanley Tucci tried to make his own Transformer in “Transformers: Age of Extinction” using Megatron’s body and ended up with just a new, better Megatron. Again, this whole deal is never explained, so I could be way off. But without further information, I’m just going to go with Ghidorah’s soul controlling Mechagodzilla.

*11. Just all of the Hong Kong stuff*

Kong’s showdown with Godzilla in Hong Kong doesn’t really have much in the way of signature moments like the fighter jet thing from before, but that’s OK. For the most part the Hong Kong sequence is shot at Titan scale, meaning they look normal sized and the city looks small — a big shift from the more grounded perspective of the previous two “Godzilla” movies.

It’s just absolutely breathtaking to see these two giants duke it out in this setting, and then have Mechagodzilla enter the fray for maximum carnage.

*12. Kong rips Mechagodzilla’s head off*

There is one big money shot in Hong Kong, though — when Kong chops off Mechagodzilla’s limbs with his magic family axe and then rips his head and spine out of his body and holds it up like a Predator. I cheered.

*13. That Apex didn’t know Bernie (Brian Tyree Henry) was doing a podcast*

The idea that a megacorporation like Apex wouldn’t be able to figure out that this dude, who doesn’t even disguise his voice and gives out identifying info on his podcast, has infiltrated the company. Might be the craziest thing in the whole movie.

*Related stories from TheWrap:*

Top 10 Highest-Grossing Monster Movies, From 'Godzilla' to 'King Kong' (Photos)

'Godzilla vs Kong' Explodes to $121.8 Million Opening at Overseas Box Office