Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024) Warner Bros./Action-Adventure-Sci-Fi RT: 115 minutes Rated PG-13 (creature violence and action) Director: Adam Wingard Screenplay: Terry Rossio, Simon Barrett and Jeremy Slater Music: Tom Holkenborg and Antonio Di Iorio Cinematography: Ben Seresin Release date: March 29, 2024 (US) Cast: Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens, Kaylee Hottle, Alex Ferns, Fala Chen, Rachel House, Ron Smyck, Chantelle Jamieson, Greg Hatton.
Rating: ** ½
The victory goes to Godzilla in this battle in the never-ending war of the Titans in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, the latest entry in the MonsterVerse franchise and a direct sequel to 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong. I say that not because his storyline is any better than Kong’s. It’s not, not really. It has more to do with the effects. In short, the scenes with Godzilla look better than the ones with Kong which look more like a video game than a movie. He and the other apes look so computer-generated, it’s distracting. It certainly took some of the fun out of it for me.
I am really on the fence about Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Parts of it are undoubtedly fun. Other parts, not so much. I enjoy a good monster movie as much as the next guy. I love the idea of a giant creature attacking cities and destroying everything in its wake while everybody runs for their lives. That’s the central attraction of most if not all kaiju movies. There’s certainly plenty of chaos, destruction and monster mano-a-mano action in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. That’s not the problem. It’s the confused storyline. It’s all over the place. Returning director Adam Wingard tries to cram too much into one movie and it ends up working against it. However, he semi-redeems himself with great characters, some cool action sequences and a fun devil-may-care approach to the material.
It seems there’s trouble in Hollow Earth, the subterranean place where Kong went to live after the events of the previous film. An identified signal has been detected and it’s on Dr. Ilene Andrews (Hall, The Town) to uncover the source. This means an expedition to Hollow Earth. It couldn’t have come at a worse time. She’s struggling to connect with her adopted daughter Jia (Hottle), the last member of the Iwi tribe and the only one capable of communicating with Kong (through sign language, she’s deaf). She too detects something is amiss. Against her better judgment, Andrews brings her along on the mission.
The anthropological linguist is also joined by Bernie (Henry, Bullet Train), a podcaster and conspiracy theorist looking to prove he’s not lying about what happened the last time he worked with Monarch, and Trapper (Stevens, Downton Abbey), a veterinarian who specializes in treating Titans. Once they get to where they’re going, they discover who sent the signal and why. It’s a warning of impending disaster for the people of the surface world. That’s not the only surprise awaiting them. There’s also a race of giant primates living in an uncharted region. Their ruler, of course, is a tyrant who enslaves and brutalizes his own kind.
Meanwhile on the surface, Godzilla appears to be gearing up for something big. He destroys a French nuclear plant in order to absorb the radiation. He then heads to the Arctic to do battle with….. oh, never mind. It’s not all that important. What does matter is that he eventually finds himself face to face with Kong. They have a pretty cool fight before teaming up to fight something far worse than both of them combined.
One of the more interesting aspects of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is the emotional content stemming from parallel stories about adoptive parents trying to form a bond with their children. On the human side, we have Andrews and Jia. The doc worries that she might lose her when the opportunity to reconnect with her roots presents itself. It’s a possibility given that Jia feels out of place in a world different from the one she was raised in. This kind of thing extends to primates as well. Kong takes an ape-child under his wing after a hostile first encounter with his tribe. He’s essentially a kid that grew up in a cult situation not unlike the mining operation in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. He has issues that he gradually starts to overcome as his new father figure tries to show him a different way to live. Blame it on the VFX, but I felt more for the human child than the ape one.
The acting in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is about what you’d expect from an effects-heavy blockbuster hopeful. The cast does their best not to be powered by the CGI and sadly, don’t always succeed. Stevens is agreeable enough as the vet/swashbuckler wannabe. He enjoys a good rapport with his co-stars, Henry in particular. The latter earns a few laughs with his attempts to document every step of the perilous mission. Deaf actress Hottle takes her young character beyond plucky to portray a traumatized but courageous orphan looking for her way in the world. Hall is a good actress, but I’m not sure she’s leading lady material, especially in an action-oriented picture like this.
All in all, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is a little better than okay. At times, it’s pretty good. It has its fun moments. It’s just not consistent. The CGI is more distracting than usual. For my money, I prefer the Toho version from 1962 (King Kong vs. Godzilla). It may be cheap, but it’s how a silly monster movie should look.
