Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is Adam Wingard's second Kong movie, and just might be my favorite addition yet to Legendary's MonsterVerse franchise.
Having gone toe-to-toe (or claw-to-giant fist, I guess) in Godzilla vs. Kong a few years back, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire sees the two titans happily co-existing in their respective domains: Kong's got the run of Hollow Earth, whilst Godzilla lies dormant on Earth's surface, awakening to defend the planet from other titan-sized threats whenever they appear. As long as neither of them sets foot on the other's turf, there shouldn't be any issues.
Unfortunately, Kong stumbles upon a new threat lurking in an unmapped part of his new home: a vicious new ape Titan called the Skar King, who rules over a tribe of ape Titans and aims to lay claim to the Earth's surface. The Skar King gets the best of Kong when they first cross paths; luckily, he doesn't have to take him on alone; our usual Monarch workers and his former Titan rival are on hand to help take this new threat down for good.
The framing story has some structure, but it's still playing second fiddle to spectacle. Meanwhile, the human characters — minus Dan Stevens' Trapper, who approaches each of his scenes with proper energy and joie de vivre — are still mostly there for one of three things: comic asides, spouting exposition, or staring on in awe. In essence, it's a very different movie to its Oscar-winning Japanese counterpart, Godzilla Minus One (which you must seek out if you haven't already).
What Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is, however, is a wildly good time at the movies, precisely because it revels in its main attraction: the Titans. Here, they have more personality, especially when it comes to comedic timing; I was not expecting to laugh out loud as many times as I did.
Given the sheer number and variety of Titans involved, Godzilla x Kong tries to show off all their powers by packing in as many scraps as possible. So it's good to know that each is as entertaining as ever. They're all distinctly staged, taking place in Hollow Earth arenas, amongst crumbling cityscapes, around the Great Pyramids, or, in one instance, zero-gravity.
Each is designed to show off the relevant Titan's combat prowess and punchy sound design gives some real weight to their powerful blows and screeching, guttural battle cries. CGI definitely varies in quality in places and some sequences are cut together in a way that it's tough to follow the action, but it's overall just as visually impressive as these movies always are.
Honestly, it feels like "go all-out" was the order of the day. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire plays out like an action-packed, 1980s fever dream, rocketing from scene to scene and never letting you breathe for more than a minute or two. The journey to Hollow Earth is a psychedelic trip in of itself; once we're down there, it continues to be a bright, colorful world, one that's dominated by strange, wonderful creatures.
Throw in the synth-heavy score that rears its head most obviously when our human stars are slow-walking towards the camera for the next leg of their adventure, needle-drop moments (especially the scene where Kong's "augmented" with his new mecha-fist), and the flick's completely bonkers mood, and you have a recipe for success in the "turn-your-brain-off" movie department.
As an exercise in pure, popcorn fun, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is a blast, towering above past entries (looking at you, King of the Monsters). It's powerful, propulsive fun that revels, unashamedly, in the silliness of the MonsterVerse and delivers more action than ever.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is in theaters from Friday, March 29. Planning your next watch? Don't forget to check out our guide to the new movies still to come in 2024.
