Godzilla vs Kong: release date of 2021 monster movie, how to watch it in the UK - and what the reviews say

Starring Alexander Skarsgard, Millie Bobby Brown and Rebecca Hall, Godzilla vs Kong sees the two Titans do battle against each other on the big screen for the first time since 1962.

What is Godzilla vs Kong about?

Godzilla vs Kong has been one of the most hotly anticipated action movies of 2021.

The film brings together two of the biggest sci-fi characters of all time in an off-the-scale battle for the screen.

Acting as a sequel to both Kong: Skull Island from 2017 and Godzilla: King of the Monsters from 2019, the movie is the fourth instalment in Legendary’s MonsterVerse.

In the film we see a team, guided by Kong, undertake the perilous journey to find his true home in Hollow Earth - the true home of Titans.

Along the way, the team unearths clues to the Titans’ very origins and a conspiracy that threatens to wipe the creatures, both good and bad, from the face of the earth forever.

However, they soon find themselves in the path of an enraged Godzilla as he cuts a swathe of destruction across the globe.

Audiences are then treated to the two most powerful forces of nature clashing on the big screen, in a spectacular battle for the ages.

The film stars Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Kyle Chandler and Demián Bichir.

What are the critics saying?

A handful of critics got their eyes on the film, and most have been taken by the immense spectacle of the movie.

“Initially seen as a bloated and unwanted piece of boardroom product has now become a scrappy little contender,” Benjamin Lee wrote in The Guardian. “fighting its way from far beneath sea level up to the surface, triumphantly landing on both feet, the striking spring surprise none of us had expected.

“Hollywood and Warner Brothers may end up being the biggest winners in the battle of Godzilla vs Kong, it’s a genuine surprise to report that we, as viewers, also emerge as victors,” Lee concluded.

In a four star review for The Telegraph, Robbie Collin said: “The scraps between Kong and Godzilla themselves are always energetic, stylish and surprising – the twosome even develop some chemistry, of a mostly roar-based sort – while the film’s impressive willingness to throw both caution and taste to the wind results in some thrilling passages of pure junk spectacle.”

The AV Club’s Katei Rife said: “There may be a moral somewhere in Godzilla vs Kong about hubris and greed, but really, this movie knows you came to see monsters punch each other. And monsters punching each other you shall get.”

Matt Zoller Seitz’s review for RogerEbert said: “Godzilla vs Kong is a crowd-pleasing, smash-’em-up monster flick and a straight-up action picture par excellence.

“It is a fairy tale and a science-fiction exploration film, a Western, a pro-wrestling extravaganza, a conspiracy thriller, a Frankenstein movie, a heartwarming drama about animals and their human pals, and, in spots, a voluptuously wacky spectacle that plays as if the creation sequence in ‘The Tree of Life’ had been subcontracted to the makers of ‘Yellow Submarine,” Seitz continued.

Empire magazine’s John Nugent wasn’t as complimentary in his review.. He said: “Godzilla vs Kong mostly delivers on its promise of a big monster fighting another big monster. It just depends whether you’re willing to sit through the toe-curlingly bad set-up that surrounds it.”

Jessica Kiang for the LA Times wasn’t so taken by the film either, writing: “So after 2014’s beautiful but rather boring ‘Godzilla,’ the enjoyable, moderately inventive ‘Kong: Skull Island’ three years later, and the absolutely incoherent ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters,’ this fourth entry in Legendary Pictures’ Monsterverse is as dumb as the franchise has ever been. Only this time it knows it and leans into it.”

How to watch Godzilla vs Kong in the UK

The movie was released in the UK on 1 April 2021.

Viewers can rent at home for £15.99 for a 48-hour window from Prime Video, iTunes, Microsoft Store and Sky Store.

The movie is also available to rent in 4K Ultra HD from Prime Video, iTunes and Microsoft Store if you want the best picture quality for the same price of £15.99.

If you are waiting to view the film on the big screen, it still remains unclear when Godzilla vs Kong will get a release once cinemas open up from 17 May.