Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)

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The real failure in Pixar’s Lightyear wasn’t in its story, animation, or even its casting. No, the actual reason was its intent; the idea this was the movie a preteen Andy would have seen as a child that would make him want to rush out and buy Buzz Lightyear toys and such. The actual film was nothing of the sort, delivering none of the overly-caffeinated exhilaration of watching space rangers go on intergalactic adventures with laser fights in favor of intergenerational family drama and life-lessons. The film promised candy and delivered cold broccoli.

There’s a scene (among many) in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, director Adam Wingard’s second entry (following 2021’s Godzilla v Kong) in Warner Bros’ MonsterVerse shared universe of city-smashing kaiju movies, where the failed promise of LightYear is better realized; Godzilla, Kong, and a resurrected Mothra share the screen, among the ruins of ancient pyramids (recently re-ruined by said monsters), in a moment of exaltation before this legendary trio heads into battle once again. The audience cheered. This is why they showed up.

via YouTube

The MonsterVerse has allowed Wingard big-budget access to the toybox of his childhood imagination, able to visualize onscreen whatever rubbery creature he’s able to pull out and smash together with (and against) other monsters, creatures, and cinematic legends. He understands the power inherent in having 100+ foot monsters smashing buildings at his disposal, and why lesser films that wasted so much precious screen time on humans and their troubles have failed to connect; we are the monsters. Give us the world’s biggest sandbox and let us play ourselves silly.

Picking up after the events of GvK, The New Empire is less an actual team-up than a sequel to 2017’s Kong: Skull Island, focusing more on the King of Kongs than the King of Monsters. This was a wise decision; cinematically, Kong is over 90 years-old, and Godzilla on the right side of 70. The two Titans have been battling each other since 1962, long before man (or monster) walked on the Moon, which makes their on-screen pairing less a novelty than an expectation.

Instead, a new challenger arrives in the form of Skar King, a vicious chain-wielding psycho primate who terrorizes his minion apes through fear and violence. With the help of Shimo, an ice-breathing reptilian Titan he enslaves using the power of a crystal attached to his bone necklace whip. We learn the Skar King is the stuff of Hollow Earth legend, that long ago he was imprisoned by Godzilla in some ancient battle. We also learn Shimo was responsible for the first Ice Age above the surface, and if the Skar King and his clan ever manage to leave Hollow Earth, there will surely be another.

Titans exist! Humans have come to accept that giant monsters are real and could invade their cities at a moment’s notice. Monarch, the organization formed to keep tabs on the Titans, have been picking up strange readings from their seismographs indicating massive monster activity. Thankfully Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall) and her massively improved hairstyle, is on the case. She’s now the sole caretaker of Jia (Kaylee Hottle), the last surviving member of Skull Island’s Iwi tribe, and the only human capable of communicating with Kong, albeit via sign language.

But Jia has been having strange dreams, visions you might call them, and her scribbles may hold the key to other strange behaviors. Desperate, Dr. Andrews reaches out to (who else?) Bernie (Brian Tyree Henry), the podcasting conspiracy theorist and only person on the planet able to decipher these strange clues and figure out what’s going on.

Above the surface, Godzilla has been especially active lately, taking out fellow Titans as if he’s preparing for some legendary battle where he’ll need to power-up if he’s to have any chance of surviving. Below, Kong is having trouble adjusting to his new life in Hollow Earth, lonely and searching for more. He’s also suffering from a massive toothache, and ascends back to the surface to seek help from the humans. Once there we meet Trapper (Dan Stevens), a quirky Aussie veterinarian specializing in Titans who knows how to make an entrance with pitch-perfect needle drops, and is a (possible?) former lover of Dr. Andrews.

Once assembled, our human leads head down into Hollow Earth to investigate what could be causing such a fuss, and to help trigger just enough circumstances to let the plot justify having one thrilling monster beatdown after the next.

One massive improvement over previous MonsterVerse films Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire makes is pairing back human character to the bare essential, which means getting rid of the soap opera level family baggage that deadened the fun. Nobody cared about any of that stuff. Instead, we get a handful of non-monster characters who understand their role is secondary to the names on the marquee, to gawk in awe and wonder at them, and to provide assistance from the sidelines. Because the film recognizes this, the moments we do spend with them are funny and engaging, which was a welcome surprise for a Godzilla movie.

What makes The New Empire work so well, both as a Hollywood blockbuster and kaiju spectacle, is how it manages to be absolutely ridiculous, yet takes the absurdity serious enough to keep us entertained. You know the filmmakers are having a ball throwing everything they can, making stuff up as they go, less bothered by “plot coherence” and continuity than relying on the audience’s fondness for these monsters to cover the spread. This is pure pulp, pure cheese, and you’ll either buy into what it’s selling or call foul.

When Kong injures a very specific body part, the solution is so on-the-nose specific, so deus ex machina (deus ex monkey?) I nearly squealed with joy. It’s so stupid, I loved it. If you ask me, this is a better Jurassic Park experience than any of the recent Jurassic World movies have managed to be, and the best videogame movie for a game that doesn’t exist.

It also understands that a movie can’t be all monster mashing, sprinkling in small touches that add just enough levity and sentiment, like the CNN headline after Godzilla naps inside a Roman colosseum after exploding a giant tentacled spider thing into goo: “Godzilla Takes Over Colosseum, Tourists Left In Awe“. My favorite has Kong, having vanquished a nasty water snake beastie, sits in quiet repose as he munches on his giant duly earned sushi log, slurping entrails like spaghetti strands as he gazes into the distance. What’s he thinking about? It’s a somber moment in a film – and franchise – that favors bombast over subtlety.

The CGI effects look great, with wildly inventive monster fights where you can actually see what’s happening. Did you ever think you’d see a zero gravity kaiju battle? Junkie XL’s synth-heavy soundtrack is wild, the song choices inspired. Who knew KISS would complement Godzilla so well? The previous film was a favorite for testing home theater and 4K HDR setups, as I suspect this one will be, too.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire only recognizes forward-momentum, never looking back because it’s having too much fun making things up as it goes along. This is a very stupid movie, but an intelligently made stupid movie that understands exactly why we continue to love these characters in all their iterations. The battles are genuinely creative and exciting, the humans aren’t terrible, and the narrative can be very funny yet not without genuine moments of emotion from monster and man alike. Unless like year’s Godzilla: Minus One, don’t expect this one to win any Oscars, but did that movie have a chain-wielding psycho monkey? Didn’t think so.