Reviews for Godzilla vs Kong are starting to come in as it nears a simultaneous stateside release both in theaters and HBO Max on March 31, and so far most are--perhaps unsurprisingly--hailing the monster movie showdown as solid, though somewhat mindless, fun time. Here's what critics thought of it.

　　Godzilla vs Kong

　　Directed By: Adam WingardWritten By: Eric Pearson, Max BorensteinStarring: Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Shun Oguri, Eiza González, Julian Dennison, Kyle Chandler, Demián BichirRelease date: March 31 (United States)

　　

GameSpot

"Godzilla and King Kong fight. They do so spectacularly, and at length, and if that's what you're hoping to see, you're going to get your money's worth. A movie in which kaiju fight each other, and the rest of the script isn't as brainless as your average garden lizard, remains as rare a discovery as Kong himself." - Michael Rougeau [Full review]

　　

Los Angeles Times

"After so many tentpoles that have insisted on being metaphors for this or that, the abundance of sound and fury here--take a bow, Tom Holkenborg, composer of the majestic synth score--blissfully signifying nothing, qualifies as a colossal, giddily escapist relief." -- Jessica Kiang [Full review]

　　

RogerEbert.com

"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.' -- Matt Zoller Seitz [Full review]

　　

AV Club

"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." -- Katie Rife [Full review]

　　

IndieWire

"In the end, though, it’s all about the battles, and Wingard’s film offers some of the franchise’s best." -- Kate Erbland [Full review]

　　

Empire

"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." -- John Nugent [Full review]

　　David Wolinsky on Google+