T5W#535-Top 5 Monsterverse Fights

While we’re focusing on Godzilla’s home movies from Japan for Godzilla Month IV, today’s Top 5 Wednesday is looking at some of the big moments from Godzilla’s American adventures in the Monsterverse.  Last year, the little Kaiju Universe that could celebrated its 10^th Anniversary with Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire, the 5^th entry in a series that includes Godzilla (2014), Kong: Skull Island (2017), Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) and Godzilla vs. Kong (2021), plus the ongoing Monarch: Legacy of Monsters TV Series.  The Monsterverse has come a long way from the original plans for an American Godzilla Saga that crashed and burned with Godzilla ’98.  But from those ashes rose a franchise that’s delivering all the goods of Kaiju throwdowns and out of this world adventures. And you know what we always come to any of these flicks for, the fights.  So today we’re counting down the Top 5 Monsterverse Fights. 

 
Special Note: To qualify, these have to be clashes that we see play out on screen for extended periods of time.  Yes there’s cutting to human characters but most of the focus is on the Kaiju throwdowns.  That said, I know this might upset some people, but don’t expect to see anything from the 2014 Godzilla on this list.  Yes the atomic breath is a crowd pleaser but I also didn’t pay to see a movie where Aaron Taylor Johnson runs from all the cool stuff we really wanna see.  Anyway, that little tirade out of the way, onto the Top 5.
 
#5-Kong vs. the Grey Apes (Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire)

The follow up to Godzilla vs. Kong goes full Showa Era with how crazy and totally out there the plot and fight scenes are.  And while the gravity defying battle royale in Hollow Earth that kicks off the finale is pretty awesome, my pick goes to this smaller scale fight where Kong throws down with some of the Scar Kings Henchmen.  It’s a nice reminder of how versatile and hard hitting a fighter the 8^th Wonder of the World is.  Plus he’s not above improvisng, like how he amusingly uses the Little Kong as a mallet to beat down his opponents (lets face it, at this point in the movie, the little runt had it coming for trying to get Kong killed).

 
#4-Godzilla vs. Kong (Round 2) (Godzilla vs. Kong)

One thing Godzilla vs. Kong improved on immensely from previous films in the Monsterverse was visibility.  A lot of earlier fights were poorly lit and hard to follow at times.  However, this second round of three clearly took a page from the Pacific Rim book of giant monster battles.  The neon lights never hide Godzilla or Kong and the city is basically there’s for the smashing as they try to one up each other.  Another unique aspect to this bout is something it shares with Round 1 (well get to that).  It puts the fight a bit in Kongs favor, giving him an edge in mobility and terrain advantage in the glass jungle, making him more of a match for Godzilla than before.

 
#3-Rodan vs. King Ghidorah (Godzilla: King of the Monsters)

It’s actually kind of rare to see these two face off but damn if King of the Monsters didn’t deliver.  Desperate to escape the awoken Fire Bird, the crew of the Monarch ship Argo set a course for the oncoming storm that is King Ghidorah.  While visibility can be tricky, the imagery of these two flying Kaiju going at it is freaking gorgeous.  The added effect of Ghidorah’s storm abilities give it a legendary feel and, for once, allows two of Godzilla’s oldest foes to take a crack at each other without interference from Big G himself. 

 
#2-Atomic Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (Godzilla: King of the Monsters)

The overall final fight of King of the Monsters is basically Destroy All Monsters HD, with a 2v2 battle going on between Godzilla and Mothra and King Ghidorah and Rodan.  But when all seems lost and Godzilla cant defeat the three headed monster, Mothra gives her life for her comrade and soups up Godzilla to a whole other level.  It’s essentially Burning Godzilla but his critical state wont destroy him, just everyone around him.  At this point, Godzilla is a wall of pure radiation and even the mighty King Ghidorah cant hurt him anymore.  It’s pretty brutal to see Ghidorah taken down so violently…but damn is it awesome to see Godzilla go a little Super Saiyan in a way.
 

#1-Godzilla vs. Kong (Round 1) (Godzilla vs. Kong)

Ok so while most people would easily say that the most iconic image of the Monsterverse is Godzilla breathing down the Muto’s throat in Godzilla 2014, I argue that it’s all about the moment this saga had been building towards for a while.  When Godzilla boards that aircraft carrier but before Kong punches him, you can hear the “Ding Ding” of the bell before BOOM!!!  This first showdown between the two chief Titans of the Monsterverse more than lives up to the hype as Godzilla effortlessly mows down legions of naval and air power while Kong uses battleships like stepping stones to hop around on.  And as I said with their Second Round, this fight is easily Godzilla’s to win given that once Kong is in the water, he's in Godzilla’s element.  Definitely worth 7 years of anticipation (59 if you count when these two Kings first clashed in 1962’s King Kong vs. Godzilla)