Godzilla x Kong: A New Empire is the latest entry in the shared universe, seeing King Kong and Godzilla team up to take on a force that is looking to take over the world. Along with returning friends in Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, and Kaylee Hottle, the pair need all the help they can get to take on Skar King.
It is interesting to look at this film given the masterpiece that was a Godzilla Minus One. That movie focused more on the humans, while this movie focuses on the monsters. I think both movies accomplished what they wanted to, as A New Empire delivers the Monster v. Monster action we expect from this saga. I love that we can get both at the same time because we are introduced to more imaginations of characters and actions.
King Kong is the focus of this movie, as he is still in Hollow Earth from the last movie. He is still just trying to find his family and a place where he belongs. We follow his journey as he finds that there are others like him, but are under the rule of Skar. I like how these movies have shifted the focus between their two moneymakers. Godzilla got his time to shine in King of the Monsters and Godzilla vs Kong and now it’s Kong’s time to lead.
In his time though, Godzilla felt like he was just accomplishing side quests. He had fought the Skar King before and banished him to Hollow Earth. Here he was just beating side bosses on the surface to accumulate enough power to take him on again. When that final battle around, he did show why he was the King but I wish he had interacted with Kong more.
With all due respect to the cast, the humans have never been the strong point of the series. Even bringing back Hall, Henry, and Hottle and introducing Dan Stevens, there is no compelling reason to watch or care for these characters. They are all just shallow archetypes who are just there so we understand why these monsters are fighting (which is pretty self-explanatory). Like, Stevens is a dude named Trapper and I don’t even need to go any more in-depth on how he was the weird quirky guy. I hate that they always have to have one character be the quip guy, even if it’s inconsistent with who they are.
I said this in my review but this movie is way funnier than it tries to be. The human quips weren’t funny but the physical comedy with Kong and Godzilla was hilarious. There was one scene in particular with Kong and the little monkey shown in the trailer that legitimately had me crying laughing. That little monkey Suko might be the best part of this movie. He was adorable at times, a silly goose other times, and the emotional core a lot of the time.
Not to mention, there is maybe the most hilariously egregious product placement in a movie I’ve ever seen. Like it was shamefully out of place but it made me crack up so I’ll give Volkswagen some credit.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Godzilla x Kong: A New Empire is a fun time. Once you accept the fact that humans don’t matter at all, you get to witness the best monster vs. monster you’ll see. Where else will you watch Godzilla hit Kong with a brainbuster mid-fight? Go watch this and enjoy the chaos it is.
