Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire – REVIEW

I’ve always sort of enjoyed the Monsterverse, which was established by Gareth Edwards’s Godzilla from 2014 and has had an admittedly strange existence in my mind and also in Hollywood. It’s somehow also been going strong for a while now, with three movies consistently released for the past few years, and yet I constantly forget I’ve seen nearly all of them in theaters. The easy crown for the best one out of them for me is Kong: Skull Island, which might just have to do with me being more of a King Kong guy than a Godzilla guy, but we’ve all got our preferences. Even after multiple movies, a spin-off on Apple TV+, and an animated series on Netflix that I didn’t even know existed until I began writing this, it’s a cinematic universe that’s outlasted quite a few failed ones. So, going into Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, it feels strange knowing how long this series of movies/shows has gone on and that they’re all at least consistently entertaining, I’m hoping for the same. For the most part, it actually is pretty fun.

Right off the bat, I feel like I could sum up The New Empire in one sentence: Turn off your brain. I’m aware that we just got Dune: Part Two, a huge step in “intellectual blockbusters” that have more experimental filmmaking elements thrown in there that general audiences are not only responding to but are actually enjoying them, but I love a good, low energy blockbuster that’s just aiming to be a good time. If you need a bit of a catch up, or if you haven’t caught any of the other Monsterverse movies, the Hollow Earth theory isn’t only real in this universe but is also a plot device. Most of the movie takes place in Hollow Earth, where Kong finds more of his species hidden from the rest of his world, led by the Skar King. Once he learns that the Skar King wants to take and conquer Earth, Kong must team up with Godzilla to not only save Earth, but Hollow Earth. At this point, it actually feels like an animated movie with how much is getting put into the VFX, and it shows for the most part. A lot of the characters and the world in general is fleshed out pretty well, even when it feels much more cartoonish than the earlier entries, which I feel is a good choice given that Kong is a bulk of the movie, if not the main character. He, along with the other apes, show a good amount of emotion and it gets across what “dialogue” they have without saying a single line. There’s a great stretch where there’s no dialogue at all where Kong first meets the Skar King, which I think is where the movie shines the brightest.

The human characters, though, aren’t exactly that strong. I know that you’re probably not going to see the human drama, but I do have to give props to the idea of Monarch, the super-secret government agency that studies and/or hunts the kaiju that have been present since Godzilla 2014. Again, I think Kong: Skull Island explores this idea wonderfully and is a huge part of why I enjoy it so much. In The New Empire, though, the idea of Monarch largely takes a backseat. Rebecca Hall and Brian Tyree Henry, both wonderful actors who reprise their roles from Godzilla vs. Kong, really just seems asleep at the wheel here. The only actor here that seems like they’re having any fun is Dan Stevens, who’s really only riffing on Star-Lord, but it’s nice to see Stevens in a big blockbuster. Most of the writing here is very generic, but once again, we’re coming to this kind of movie to see big monsters punch each other. Speaking of big monsters, Godzilla’s surprisingly not really in this one. I’m not entirely sure if it has to do with Toho licensing the rights out or not, but he feels more like a plot device than even a kaiju.



As I said earlier, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire can be boiled down to one phrase: Turn off your brain. If you’re coming to this for big action sequences where a big lizard performs a suplex on a big ape, this is the movie for you, and that’s okay. To pull the Dune: Part Two comparison again, you can have a four course meal with dessert too. The New Empire is just a real sweet ice cream sundae.

♡

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is currently playing in theaters and can be pre-ordered digitally wherever you buy or rent movies. In terms of streaming, The New Empire will be on MAX later this year.