Monstrously Entertaining
Summary
I went into Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire with pretty low expectations as the trailers weren’t the greatest, but it didn’t take long for the film to win me over by just going all out batshit crazy, giving us near constant monster action, nice moments of humour and a sheer sense of fun. It’s not dramatic like Minus One, but this is pure blockbuster fodder and everything I go to the movies for.
Plot: Godzilla and the almighty Kong face a colossal threat hidden deep within the planet, challenging their very existence and the survival of the human race
Review: My body likes to remind me that I’m 46 years old on a regular basis however, mentally I’ll always be 12 years old especially whenever I’m watching a movie about large monsters fighting. I’m a simple man with simple tastes and Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire delivered everything I could want from a Kaiju movie.
It wastes no time getting going with our two Titans introduced immediately and for the next two hours it’s practically constant action with lots of huge creatures battling while destroying various landmarks around the world. Poor Egypt is going to have an expensive repair bill…
In The New Empire, Kong is front and center and essentially the protagonist; the way he is brought to life is quite staggering. Yes, we all know it’s CG but he has such an expressive face that it immerses you completely into this utterly bonkers monster mash. Kong is lonely in the Hollow Earth desperately searching for more of his kind, but when he stumbles upon a group of fellow Kongs enslaved by the evil Scar King he requires the help of Godzilla to take him down.
Normally in the Monsterverse movies the humans are the least interesting aspect but I actually liked them in this movie with Dan Stevens clearly enjoying himself and even the mother/daughter relationship adding an emotional core to the madness.
I love how Godzilla Minus One and this both contain Godzilla but tonally are such different movies yet equally entertaining for a variety of reasons. This is ridiculous stuff and let me tell you, I am here for it. It knows exactly what it’s trying to be – pure popcorn fun with no apologies.
A special shout-out needs to be given to Brian Tyree Henry for wearing an Exterminator 2 T-shirt early on and as soon as I saw that I knew I would love this movie. Sure, it lacks the emotional resonance of Minus One, but this is its own beast (sorry) and like I said, it does something totally different giving us some crazy scenes the likes of which we have never seen before. Have you ever witnessed giant monsters fighting in zero gravity? I haven’t and it’s awesome!
We saw the movie in IMAX 3D and I had no idea they still did 3D movies; it wasn’t noticeable all the time but there were a few scenes where it just pulled you into it; the Hollow Earth scenes looked genuinely otherworldly and very imaginative. It almost felt like an old-fashioned adventure movie that Doug McClure would be in like Warlords of Atlantis except with modern effects.
At just under 2 hours The New Empire rockets along with monster action every few minutes with plenty of fights and destruction to keep action fans happy.
The music was incredible too, incorporating Godzilla’s iconic theme as well as some synthwave and classic rock tunes.
This movie is just a wild ride and frankly I can’t wait to watch it again. It’s interesting because I thought the trailers made the film look terrible, so I went in with low expectations and was pleasantly surprised by the utter insanity that unraveled before me.
Overall, Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire is another winner for big screen action in 2024; it has near constant monster beatdowns, cities being crushed and just a sheer sense of fun that is immediately infectious. The Monsterverse is still going strong and I can’t wait to see what total madness happens in the next film.
