Review: Godzilla X Kong - The New Empire
Rise Together Or Fall Alone
INTRODUCTION
This is a quick review of the newly released film Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire. Keep in mind this is but one of the many movies I watch every year, and that whatever initial grade I come up for this film could change for better or worse with time. To better keep up to date with both my thoughts on other movies and if my feelings on this film changed, follow me on Letterboxd.
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THE PLOT
Via Letterboxd: Following their explosive showdown, Godzilla and Kong must reunite against a colossal undiscovered threat hidden within our world, challenging their very existence – and our own.
QUICK REVIEW
As I mentioned in my Godzilla Minus One review way back in December, I am fully transparent about the fact that you have to take any Godzilla film review from me with a grain of salt. This is the one franchise in film I am incredibly passionate about. Its the one franchise that I am emotionally invested in. Its the one franchise that I will die on almost any hill defending. If I had it my way, Godzilla films would have been Best Picture nominees on multiple occasions. Godzilla films are why I am a film fanatic to begin with, with 1975’s Terror Of Mechagodzilla being my earliest recollection of watching a movie. Oh and by the way, I adore plenty of the King Kong films as well.
So its always tough to tackle reviewing a new entry in the now 70 years this franchise has been around - nearly 100 years if you count this as a King Kong movie. If anything, the very few Godzilla films I outright dislike could probably get more proper reviews from me, as I can dissect my issues with those much more easily. So I thought I’d do something a little different and do more of an explanation as to why I love this movie while commenting on others’ critiques that I’ve seen.
To what should be absolutely no one’s surprise, Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire is getting much more mixed critical reviews than Godzilla Minus One has. The latter is a sobering, darker, and more grounded film that examines human drama just as much as it delivers blockbuster spectacle. The former is part of a cinematic universe created for the goal of commercial success by only delivering the spectacle, and being thin with its writing outside of the impressive CGI the Monsterverse has always delivered. ‘Minus One’ was a critical darling that got Best Picture nominations from critics groups, was the third most awarded for Best International Feature among those groups (Including the Puerto Rico Critics Association of which I am a member of), swept the Japanese Academy Awards, and won a freaking Oscar for Visual Effects. GxK was never going to get that kind of acclaim.
There’s also of course the fact that the entire franchise has always had a wide spectrum of tones and interpretations of the iconic character. The YouTube channel, Mike’s Monsters, explained all of this much better than I could in a must-watch video. Thus you’re going to get some Godzilla films that are much more aligned with higher brow tastes than others. If you’re the type who is putting The Power Of The Dog as your favorite film of 2021, chances are Godzilla Minus One appeals to you; but if you’re the type that is putting Spider-Man: No Way Home as your favorite film of 2021, chances are you’re gonna’ be able to vibe with Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire more than the former would. So inevitably many comparisons to Godzilla Minus One were coming from the more high-brow minded critics and thus lower critical scores were coming one way or another.
Perhaps its because of these wide spectrum of Godzilla films are what I grew up on that I’m also the kind of person who thinks BOTH The Power Of The Dog and Spider-Man: No Way Home are among 2021’s best films. So to no one’s surprise, even though I adored the much tonally different Godzilla Minus One, I had one of the most fun times at the movies with Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire. And I suspect, the same general audiences that reacted so favorably to Godzilla Minus One, will have plenty fun with this entry themselves.
Whether you like it or not, the Monsterverse has fully embraced the tone of the peak Showa era, the first timeline of Godzilla continuity that saw him become a hero and go up against not just other giant monsters, but also aliens and cyborgs! We are basically getting the big Hollywood budget version of that. If that’s not your cup of tea, if you’ve been growing frustrated with the tone of these movies, then to be very frank, don’t bother showing up to Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire. You’ll just leave not being converted and repeating lines about how much better last year’s epic period piece from Japan was a better film. And to be just as frank, I think a lot of my fellow film critics (Who I do believe are mostly of good faith given what we saw them do with Godzilla Minus One last year) already went into this ready to gripe given the mixed reviews of the last few films.
That said I do think its worthy to point out that I have read and heard from some critics that have actually been some of the bigger Monsterverse defenders out there that they were underwhelmed and disappointed by this movie. So its not like there aren’t fans of these last few films that might not like this one as much.
Overall though, if, like me, you enjoyed the monster smashing nonsense fun of Godzilla VS Kong, this will likely be right up your alley and then some. I fully expect audiences to have tons of fun with this movie in the same way they’ve enjoyed the previous Monsterverse films more than critics and hardcore cinephiles have. This is a full-blown roller coaster ride that had me smiling from ear to ear through the entire runtime. I found myself verbally uttering out more than a few things at the screen in my giddy excitement.
Director Adam Wingard hasn’t just fully embraced the Showa-era tone, he’s embraced the fact these “monsters” are characters themselves. Which as a member of the niche franchise’s fan base, I always understood. But I don’t think many critics who have little exposure to the franchise do, which is why I’ve seen some claim that there’s no emotional weight to it which I find dumbfounding given that, for me, Kong’s arc across these last two movies has shown plenty emotional weight and heart. The addition of Skar King as the antagonist in this film was well-done as I bought him as a significant threat even though he’s nowhere near as strong as a Ghidorah was. Oh and there is a massive surprise kaiju character that will have the biggest of Godzilla fans cheering. But the MVP of them all is the newly introduced mini Kong or Suko.
As for the humans there’s always been complaints that they’re badly written when it comes to Monsterverse films, but honestly having just binged these movies in the last week I can’t say that I fully agree. Are there some questionable writing with motives and dialogue? Yes. But I would argue they are more fully fleshed out than given credit given the hard task in putting humans up against the spectacle that are Godzilla and Kong. These aren’t ‘Minus One’ level human characters of course, but I thought given their roles, the entire ensemble played their part well including Dan Stevens who’s Trapper has become my favorite film character of the year at this early stage in 2024.
There are a few wonky parts, but for the most part I thought this movie continued the Monsterverse streak of having CGI that will age more good than not years down the line. Something I can’t say of other major blockbusters of late. I thought the pacing was well done although the first half build-up could throw off those who were much more in line with the faster pacing of Godzilla VS Kong. The idea is to make you feel like you’re in one of those cinematic rides that Martin Scorsese referred to MCU films like - which is a whole other can of worms to open in another discussion. If you came to watch monsters be actual characters with their own story arcs, to watch them duke it out, and to watch them team up, this movie is everything you could have hoped for.
Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire is not gonna’ convert Monsterverse skeptics or those with more high-brow tastes. But if you’re a fan of the Showa-era stuff; if you’re a Godzilla fan; especially if you’re a Kong fan - I cannot recommend to you more that you go to your local theatre, grab your soda and popcorn, and strap on in for one of the best rides of your life. With full transparency that I am a major fan of this franchise, I give Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire an initial grade of A-. Next to Dune Part Two, it is my favorite film of the early year.
INTIAL GRADING
