Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire

Deep within the unexplored regions of Hallow Earth, a signal is being sent to the surface.  Something is calling for help and with it heralds the return of a long dormant evil that has been trying to reconquer the world as it did before.  Here, the mighty Kong finds his origins and perhaps his destiny.  But to defeat this seemingly undefeatable foe, he must once again call upon the King of the Monsters.  The world barely survived one showdown between Godzilla and Kong.  Can it survive another as well as the terrifying might of the Scar King?

It’s been 10 years since the Monsterverse was unleashed with 2014’s Godzilla.  Since then, we’ve seen the shared universe grow around the adventures of Godzilla and Kong across four films, the last one being arguably the best with their decades in the waiting rematch in 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong.  You’d think that epic clash would be saved for an anniversary special.  Instead we get the follow up, Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire.  I had my doubts going in from Godzilla’s nuclear color change to how unintimidating the Scar King looked to seeing Godzilla running into battle alongside Kong.  As a friend of mine put it, “They’re going full Showa Era.  You never go full Showa Era.”  Well, as it turns out this new Monsterverse outing does go bonkers with its action but it feels very fun and enjoyable, even if there’s admittedly a lack of balance between the two titular Kaiju.
 
Yes, most of Godzilla X Kong belongs to Kong.  It actually feels like a conclusion to a story trilogy that began in 2017’s Kong: Skull Island and continued in Godzilla vs. Kong.  And I can see why this might throw off fans who feel like Godzilla is getting the short end of this deal…and he is.  But between the two stars, Kong has shown growth through every one of his appearances.  He has character and has grown from a young protector to a seasoned veteran, grey hairs and everything. Even without sign language, you can always make out how Kong is feeling or thinking at any moment based on his facial expressions.  It’s made him a Kaiju you can emotionally invest in.  You want to see Kong find more of his kind and embrace all of his victories, no matter how little.  Even his scenes with Kong Jr., something that could have gone very wrong, are some of the warmest emotional investments.  This universe may have started around Godzilla, but Kong’s become a capable leading Kaiju himself.
 
As I said though, that does mean Godzilla is left in the dust for a lot of the films runtime.  He pops up here and there sure.  But while Kong is getting all the meaty story, Godzilla is doing his own thing in preparation for the big finale.  He’s just there to destroy and that’s about it.  It’s not like this is any kind of new deal for Godzilla, only showing up when it’s time for a big action sequence.  But considering how much of an actual character arc Kong gets and especially after Godzilla became a force to be reckoned with in (the Academy Award Winning) Godzilla Minus One, fans of the King of the Monsters will feel rightfully shortchanged by his nearly minimal participation in this team up movie.  That said, I will tell the fan boys angry about Godzilla losing his trademark blue atomic glow to chill a bit.  There is a reason he’s glowing pink now.
 
With a lot of the action and set pieces centering in Hallow Earth, we get to explore this new found region a lot more than in Godzilla vs. Kong.  The lore of this place is fascinating and I have to give it to the Monsterverse, it knows how to give its world a fun history surrounding all the Kaiju and the people who worship them.  Among this lore is new foe the Scar King.  Despite his overly lanky design, he’s a pretty fierce and brutal fighter and, like Kong, he lets either his silent facial expressions or his rather sinister laugh do all the talking.  He may not top Mechagodzilla from the last movie, or King Ghidorah in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, but he’s impressive still.  There are also a few special surprises in store that haven’t been revealed yet in any preview that spice things up.  As for the action, whew, like I said, they don’t go “Full Showa Era” but they have a ton of fun with both the physics of Hallow Earth and just having a bunch of Giant Monsters smack the heck out of each other while everyone around them runs for cover.  The road to get to these bouts might be a bit bumpy but I’m not gonna deny fun was had whenever there was another epic throwdown.
 
Naturally, because this is a Godzilla movie, the Human element is the weakest part.  It is serviceable and none of the characters returning from Godzilla vs. Kong: Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry and Kaylee Hottle as Dr. Andrews, Bernie and Jia respectively, ever become grating.  Even Dan Steven’s pointless tag along newcomer Trapper (yes that’s his name) has some fun chemistry with Andrews and especially Bernie, providing a few nice chuckles.  The only character that needs to be present is Jia because of her connection to Kong still going strong…and Andrews I guess because we need to advance their Mother/Daughter relationship.  Still, like I said, they never come off nearly as bad as the insufferable cast of Godzilla: King of the Monsters like Vera Farmiga’s infuriating “Im not the bad guy” or Kyle Chandler channeling his inner Ben Affleck’s Batman’s pointless hatred for Superman er Godzilla.  Like I said, serviceable but when Kong’s acting is more engaging, why is anyone else needed?
 
Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire is a Showa Era Godzilla movie given the HD treatment and turns out to be more fun than I imagined it would be going in.  The action is still as awesome as ever and the ongoing Kong storyline reaches a decent conclusion.  I have no clue where they go with his arc from here and it’s probs best to let the big guy rest a bit and give Godzilla another solo go around.  The King of the Monsters feels like a guest star in his own titled movie (kind of like the Showa Era sometimes).  But he can still do his thing and do it well.  Throw in a decent baddie, some not so irritating Human characters and a ton of larger than life Kaiju throwdowns, and you’ve got a nice little addition to the Monstervese, even if it only works to satisfy one of the two Kings in its title.
 
7.5/10