One Thing Covid Didn't Smash to Pieces? Monster Movies

By no means a thinking person's film, Godzilla vs. Kong nonetheless has moments of something like--what might be called--you could say--intelligence. Perhaps the smartest thing it did, for instance, was cast Kaylee Hottle in the part of Jia, a young girl who can talk to Kong. Both actress and character are deaf; when she first appears, the filmmakers pull off a nifty perspective shift by sucking out most of the sound. Later, we learn that Jia communicates with the big monkey the same way certain primate researchers interact with their subjects: in sign language. So not only does a deaf kid get to star in a major monster picture--it also makes effortless, plot-relevant sense to have her there.