Broadcast this evening on TF1, “Godzilla Vs Kong” is a pure popcorn movie, which also has tasty references. One, in particular, is a nod to a cult film from the 80s!
At a time when monsters roam the Earth, and as humanity struggles for its future, Godzilla and King Kong, the two most powerful forces in nature, collide in a spectacular battle never before seen. As Monarch embarks on a perilous mission into uncharted territory, and uncovers clues to the origins of the Titans, a human plot threatens to eradicate these creatures – both good and evil – from the face of the planet. .
Fourth film in the MonsterVerse initiated in 2014 with the reboot of Godzilla, Godzilla vs Kong was released in 2021 in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. This context, heavy, had nevertheless allowed him to collect a little more than 470 million dollars at the world Box Office.
Pure popcorn movie which is watched with not even guilty pleasure, godzilla vs kong also has several more or less pointed references, such as its ancestor King Kong, the 1933 film, in King Kong Escaped (1967); King Kong vs. Godzilla, the Toho movie released in 1962. Or even to… Shrek! Yes Yes. It’s at the beginning of the film, when Kong emerges from his morning routine. The giant comes out of his siesta, stretches and scratches himself, before taking a few steps in his swamp.
But what especially catches our attention is a nod to a film that we weren’t expecting at all. In this case a reference to … Lethal Weapon 2! This slips in at the end of the film. After Kong’s shoulder is dislocated in the final battle, he puts it back in place by hitting it against a giant building.
This is a nod to the character of Riggs (Mel Gibson) in lethal weapon 2, who is as adept at dislocating his shoulder as he is putting it back in place. A “capacity” (very painful all the same…) which also saves his life when he almost drowns in the film, after being tossed to the bottom of the water.
Here is the sequence for memory…
This being said, what does such a reference do in godzilla vs kong ? The director happens to be a huge fan of Richard Donner’s film. And explained it in an interview with the site CinemaBlend in 2021, revealing in passing that there should even be more references.
“The character played by Skarsgard must have used to drinking from a Lethal Weapon 2 mug. In fact, he even wore a Lethal Weapon 2 t-shirt, but it was a version Japanese, so you could only know that if you spoke or read Japanese.”