Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Review

By Vanessa Umanzor

After the brawl of Godzilla vs. Kong comes the newest addition, and 5th entry to the Monsterverse, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. The thrilling film sees Kong and Godzilla pitted against a terrifying new foe hidden within Hollow Earth, delving deeper into this franchise’s physical world and the Kaiju’s histories.

As someone who has only watched Godzilla (2014) from this franchise, it’s apparent from the start that the mood and tone of these blockbusters have come quite a way from what they once were. The soundtrack alone reflects a more lighthearted and amusing vibe.

We start the film in Hollow Earth, while “Welcome To My World” by Jim Reeves plays in the background, with Kong living a lonely existence, believing he is the only one of his kind left. But before long he meets a young gorilla, Suko, who takes Kong to a group of apes being forced into slave labor by the Skar King, a terrifying ape, who also commands Shimu, a tremendous creature with obliterating ice powers. Godzilla on the other hand spends this time in the film preparing for the apocalyptic-level threat of the Skar King and his henchmen by absorbing so much radioactive power, that his blue form turns pink before the final showdown.

I thoroughly enjoyed it more than Godzilla (2014) and felt the human story to be more harmonious with the ridiculousness of the Titans’ narrative. They figured out the formula for good comic relief and there’s more chemistry between characters. They even got me teary-eyed at the end with a tender Mother-Daughter moment. My biggest nitpick was that I wish it was a little longer with more varied pacing and climax, but it sets the energy early on and pretty much maintains it throughout. Another thing that I think could have made the plot better is if it wasn’t so Kong-focused. Sure, it was endearing seeing Godzilla sleeping in the Colosseum curled up like a cat. But cute moments don’t make up for such a beloved character’s low emotional gravity in the film compared to Kong’s.

This movie proves that it doesn’t need to be 5 stars to be wildly entertaining. Godzilla x Kong honestly had great effects, it had humor, but most importantly it had our favorite monsters reducing historical landmarks to rubble while executing as much damage to each other. Is it a cinematic masterpiece because of it? Probably not. Let’s not make the mistake of comparing GxK to Godzilla Minus One which were released within 4 months of each other. I don’t have the perfect words for the wonderful feelings I had leaving the theater for both of these movies. All I can say is that you can love them both equally for polar opposite reasons.