Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is a movie packed with thrilling action and cringe-worthy dialogue, as two iconic Titans team up. A majority of the film proves how much fun there is to be had by combining kaiju action with camp. Once again at the helm is director Adam Wingard. The film stars Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens, Kaylee Hottle, Alex Ferns, and Fala Chen. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is now in theaters and IMAX.
Legendary Pictures pits the almighty Kong and the fearsome Godzilla against a colossal undiscovered threat hidden within our world, challenging their very existence—and our own. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire delves further into the histories of these Titans and their origins, as well as the mysteries of Skull Island and beyond while uncovering the mythic battle that helped forge these extraordinary beings and tied them to humankind forever.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Review
Whenever a new kaiju-style film is unleashed for audiences to consume, there are bound to be those who want the genre to follow the same style each time. Legendary and Toho won’t develop the same Godzilla film and that’s completely fine. Not all of their films stand the test of time with some being more cringe than camp.
I miss being excited like a little kid for the movie theaters. The absence of over-the-top blockbuster thrills has been rough. Listen, I could easily be that critic who speaks to you like you have no authority in what constitutes “good entertainment”, but I’ve met those people and I never wish to be like them. I loved the parts of this film that brought a unique perspective into the kaiju territory. This story had a lot of heart and embraced the campy parts that naturally come with enormous titans and monsters being involved.
In an interesting twist, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire had a lot of accessibility in how the story was told. Discussing the film with my partner, a long-time kaiju fan, after seeing it on the big screen was enlightening. They pointed something out to me about the potential accessibility for the deaf community with this film. Although I lack experience living life without hearing, this thought is significant. There’s something so important in the facial expressions and small details in storytelling whether between the actors or the ginormous apes.
It speaks to the very essence of humanity when these aspects of a film are done well because they signal to storytellers how to move forward with their craft. Godzilla vs Kong: The New Empire was a visually stunning film that utilized the setting of Hollow Earth to its fullest potential. Hollow Earth helped expand the story and its design was gorgeous.
Leaving the theater, I kept focusing on how campy Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire was and how much better it made the experience. If they had gone for something soaked in dread and dramatics, it wouldn’t have the same impact. I fell in love with the story that was written for Hottle’s character, Jia. Some of the dialogue felt rushed, being thoughtful in one moment and then cringe-inducing in another. The dialogue may have not been fantastic, but it was decent enough for this type of film.
The lack of explanation for the main characters from previous films being absent has been a common theme in these Godzilla and Kong films from Legendary. At this point, I can understand it won’t be magically fixed, and we won’t necessarily know where past characters have gone. In a film like this, you have to truly suspend any disbelief because not much with make sense outside of basics (gravity, government secrets, etc). While that happens a bunch with these films, there were some slight missteps regarding simplifying some of the explanations or scenes explaining more detailed mechanics of Hollow Earth.
This is not a perfect film, but then again those can be a rarity. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is a kaiju blockbuster filled with memorable moments, gorgeous designs, fantastic cinematography, and full of camp that evokes the era of kaiju being ridiculous men in costumes crushing miniature towns.
