Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Review –

Here’s my Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Review which is now playing and stars Rebecca Hall, Bryan Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens and more! The film is directed by Adam Wingard and distributed by Warner Bros Pictures and Legendary Pictures!

Going into this film, I was expecting some awesome fights between Kong and Godzilla, between Kong and Skar King, and anything in between. I just wanted my giant monster fight. What I got was that some entertaining bits, a surprise appearance, and by the end of the film a slightly bigger Mosterverse.

For starters in this Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire review, let me get this out of the way, yes some ideas in the film were downright silly but you know what, this is a kaiju movie so expect silly things and silly explanations. I initially hated the reasoning behind Kong’s new weapon which looks like a gauntlet of sorts called “Project Powerhouse” but it kinda grew on me. And yes, that thing itself has plot armor. The less I talk the better because we’re nearing the spoiler territory and I want this to be a spoiler-free as possible.

Now that that’s settled GxK thoughts.

The plot was pretty decent for me with Kong taking a much bigger role here and Godzilla in the background just constantly beefing up because he knows something’s up. If you didn’t like the Big Lug in the past few movies, this movie will probably make you see how adorable he is. They even give him a few funny moments. There’s even this segment in the film where he chows down on his recent catch and this weird lizard titan who resembles the kaiju Anguirus

Meanwhile, our Big G is just chilling, kicking Titan ass (and homes), and is being reserved as this poster boy for the climax. And I am down for that. The fewer plots we need to follow the better and they made some nice excuses here for Godzilla taking the sidelines for most of the film.

The cast is also relatively tolerable this time. So we don’t have Damsel star Millie Bobby Brown here and suddenly things are a whole lot better. Rebecca Hall as Irene Andrews whom we first met in Godzilla vs Kong is back together with her now-adopted daughter Jia (Kaylee Hottle) as they respond to a mysterious signal from within Hollow Earth. Brian Tyree Henry’s kaiju podcaster Bernie is also back here and he gets to shine a lot more and deliver some funny zings. New addition Dan Stevens (Legion, Beauty and the Beast) is playing Titan vet Trapper here. And because we don’t have many cast members to follow around, the film’s tighter than expected.

Director Adam Wingard also needs to be applauded here because he goes full beast mode with the approach and how to neatly balance the human element with the monster element. And the bro definitely did his assignment in appeasing the fans of both Godzilla and Kong including the new ones who saw Skull Island and that animated series playing on Netflix right now.

The visuals for the film are a spectacle. Whether it’s the titanic monster fights or the different locales we go through in the film, something will always catch your attention. Even the wanton destruction registered great for me in this film.

I forgive the film for not having to flesh out the bad guys. We don’t get too much exposition or characterization, but the exposition towards the film’s third act gives us the whole story and the Skar King’s end goal. Whatever the hell it wants to do after obtaining his goal was never described which could have been better. Still, the final plot is decent enough and good enough to prevent everybody from stopping the antagonist.

Skar King looks intimidating and I like how they made him look the way he does. He’s taller than Kong and is twice as cunning and experienced when it comes to using weapons. He’s also a lot more cruel and does something truly deplorable with no sign of redemption.

Kong also gets to be a dad in this with the introduction of new character “Suko” whose name apparently means “Essential Child” in Japanese. Suko plays an important role for Kong playing a guide to the Skar King’s domain as well as an adopted kid who Kong takes care of. But the film doesn’t just provide us with a cute side character, Suko also has his own subplot and they did a remarkable job of finishing this chapter before actually joining his daddy. There were a few scenes where they establish a deep bond even with Suko trying to “stick a shiv up” Kong’s ass so to speak and I really liked those. We see the maturity of Kong (who in some scenes actually sports white or greying fur connoting his age). For Kong, it was a kid being cheeky and doesn’t take it against him. That’s character development right here.

That whole “found family” also echoes throughout the film at different levels. There’s that theme working around Irene and Jia who officially become a family before the movie. Then there’s the whole found family thing happening between our four main leads especially Jia and the Iwi community living inside Hollow Earth and then there’s the found family aspect with Kong literally finding a colony of giant monkeys in the subterranean levels of Hollow Earth, enslaved by the Skar King no less.

And more so we get to see how Kong and Irene reflect each other’s dilemma. Both Irene and Kong have a duty and are on a leadership role but they find that familial longing and problems are affecting them in various ways. Kong is a king without a people while Irene is leading her own group in MONARCH and yet having problems in dealing with her daughter.

Will I recommend you watch “The New Empire”? Yes without a doubt. But I have to remind you that this isn’t an Oscar bet so temper down your expectations, sit back, and watch big monsters beat each other up, team up, beat equally terrifying monsters with a backup army, and save the world in the process.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Verdict – 8/10

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Special thanks to Warner Bros Pictures and SM Cinemas!