By CADE KENNEDY, Student Reporter

It is hard to believe that it was over a year ago when this pandemic started, but here we are.


That was one of the many thoughts I had in my head as I walked into the Rialto Theater on a Thursday night.
I sat down in my seat and looked around at the mostly empty theater, trying to see if there was anyone I could recognize.


After looking for a few moments, I turned around and watched the same ads over and over while continuously checking my phone to see how many minutes I had to wait until the previews started.


The theater went dark, and the familiar green screen signaling that a trailer was about to start came on. After a few trailers, the movie finally started.


Despite being April Fool’s Day, this was no joke. “Godzilla vs. Kong” was finally in theaters.


This was a movie that I had been waiting for since it was announced back in 2015, when the MonsterVerse that Legendary Pictures had just created was simply ideas instead of the four films that are out now.


After seeing how Legendary made the other MonsterVerse movies, “Kong: Skull Island” and “Godzilla: King of the Monsters,” I was even more excited about how “Godzilla vs. Kong” would turn out.


The MonsterVerse films were not what hooked me into Godzilla films, however.


I had been a fan of the Godzilla movies since my dad introduced me to those movies when I was a little kid.
Over the next few years, I was able to find most of the films on DVD, with a few exceptions.


However, I was able to complete my collection last year with the 2016 film “Shin Godzilla,” meaning that I had every Godzilla film — all 30 of them.


Going back to “Godzilla vs. Kong,” it truly is a great monster movie. The film immediately starts off with monsters and continues to show them off throughout the movie.


The film also remembers one of the most important parts of any monster movie in that the film is about the monsters, not the people.

Speaking of the people, most of cast does a good job in the movie and keeps the movie entertaining while the monsters are off the screen.


Brian Tyree Henry does a great job in playing a conspiracy theorist named Bernie and brings a lot of energy to the movie.


The action scenes are great, with the monster battles being the highlight of the movie.


The film shows Godzilla and Kong fighting in the daylight, which is the first time in the MonsterVerse that we see monsters fighting in the daylight.


It was nice to be able to see the monsters fighting with no cuts to a different scene or not being able to clearly see them.


The final battle between Godzilla and Kong is fantastic, with both monsters beating each other throughout the city of Hong Kong.


The real final battle of the movie is great as well, with Godzilla and Kong teaming up to fight another monster that I will not reveal.


I had a great time watching the movie, and I would recommend that you watch it as well.
The film is in theaters right now, but is also available on HBO Max at no extra charge until the end of April.