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In the film, novelist Kongwen Lu (Dong Zijian) is the author of a fantasy series following a heroic teenager, also named Kongwen. It takes serious filmmaking smarts to nail action and pacing like this.įurther Reading Action-packed meta-fantasy, space opera herald a bright future for Asian film GvK is big, dumb, and fun-but don't be fooled. The same goes for the other monster in the film's title, and I'm afraid I can't say more than that for those of you who haven't had the plot spoiled already.
Whichever VFX house got this gig did a masterful job rendering the hairy, emotionally uncaged Kong within lush scenery-the shadows and ambient occlusion dance over his shaggy, unkempt frame. Every pixel pumped into the film's leading monsters is spent wisely. GvK's script and tone are paced nicely with action sequences that are the filmmaking version of a studio setting towers of money on fire-as lit by the blue-fire blasts coming out of Godzilla's throat. What about when a pre-teen girl sneaks past the highest-grade military security, meant to keep an eye on the murderous Kong, to go up to him and check on his feelings? GvK constantly waves its hand at these moments, since they whiz by so quickly, as if to say, "Don't worry about that plot hole, poindexter."
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Breaking into a disaster site full of the highest levels of corporate malfeasance? Just lick a screwdriver and jam it into the right plug. The film's logic is never outrageously bad-though at times it's proudly paper-thin. Special effects can't be the only content in a silly monster movie, and thankfully, GvK's script walks a fine line between seriousness, heart, and outright cheese. As ever, we invite you to head to the comments and add your own suggestions for films released in 2021, whether you watched them in crowded, masked cineplexes or OLED-lined isolation chambers. We're opting for an unranked list, with the exception of our "year's best" vote at the very end so you might peruse a variety of genres and options and possibly add surprises to your eventual watchlist. This year, the best stuff ranges from mainstream comic- and sci-fi-inspired blockbusters to meticulously designed cult/horror madness to documentaries that explore the dire consequences of travesties like pseudoscience or climate change. At Ars, our critical eye continues drifting toward a substantial range of "nerd"-appropriate cinema. Still, we get into such a tizzy because the films in question remain fascinating and exhilarating, no matter how, where, or when we watch them. Still others would rather not admit until at least 30 or 45 days after a film's launch that you might have a masterfully calibrated 4K screen and spatial surround-sound system in your home, variants be damned. Others toyed with the idea before backing off. Some companies embraced this reality for the entirety of 2021, committing to simul-launched films in theaters and on streaming platforms in the United States.
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The past year-plus of world-shaking change has been a stern reminder that some stuff works just fine in our homes, which includes films-a fact that movie studios and massive theaters alike are uneasy about. When it comes to films in 2021, Ars Technica readers have been more likely to express their feelings about the logistics of seeing new offerings this year than about the films in question.