Kong X Godzilla: The New Empire (2024) Movie Review

Kong X Godzilla: The New Empire (2024) Movie Review

When it was announced in 2016 that Godzilla and King Kong would go toe-to-toe in a big-budget, Hollywood film as part of the 2014 Godzilla and 2017 Kong: Skull Island cinematic universe, or Monsterverse as it's more commonly referred to, fans lost their minds! Seeing these two cinematic legends brawl on the big screen has been a dream of many moviegoers, myself included, for a very long time. After production delays and the COVID-19 pandemic, pushing the release even further back, in 2021, we finally got to see these two titans fight it out on the big-screen. Similar to ‘Dune’, ‘Wonder Woman 1984’, ‘The Matrix: Resurrections’ and ‘Tom & Jerry the Movie’, Godzilla vs Kong was released day-in-day with cinemas and HBO Max, so its box office numbers were down slightly because of this release. However, the film still managed to bring in more than $470 million worldwide, with over $100 million coming from the USA alone. The movie was a massive hit, scoring well with audiences and critics alike, with an impressive 76% critics approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a whopping 91% audience score. Both were in agreement (which doesn’t happen all too often) with this film.

Adam Wingard did a great job with the first film, bringing his signature style of Synthes pop and neon lighting to the battle sequences here, showing the devastation caused by these titans battling through our cities. Given its massive success and the overall success of the Monsterverse, it was only a matter of time before Warner Bros. moved forward with another sequel, and in 2024 we got one with ‘Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’, but this time, the two titans must bury the hatchet, to join forces as they take on a new threat in the Skar King. The film was more of the monster carnage we have come to expect from the franchise. Adam Wingard helmed the film again, with Rebecca Hall returning as Ilene Andrews, Bryan Tyree Henry as Bernie Hayes and Kaylee Hottle as Jia, with Dan Stevens re-teaming with Adam Wingard (both did The Guest together) as charismatic newcomer, Trapper. The film was met with the same response from audiences with over $567 million at the worldwide box office, and a 91% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, and I am happy to report that I am with the audience on this one, I had a lot of fun here with Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.  

Godzilla X Kong ups everything from the first film. The action, the destruction, the noise, the science-fiction elements, absolutely everything is supersized here. As a fan of the franchise, there is now a built-in expectation of what to expect with these movies. Audiences want giant-scaled battles, endless destruction, and cool gadgets that Kong and Godzilla can use in their crusade against other titans that threaten their throne. Here, we get all of this, the action is mostly isolated to the hollow earth, which is fun as it is different to what we’ve seen previously, with the third act taking place predominantly in Egypt, where we get to see the Pyramids of Giza levelled as the titans do battle. Seeing Godzilla and King Kong fighting alongside a common threat here was a blast, the shot of them running towards the Scar King with the pyramids in the background is quite simply, awesome!

Whilst the human characters have never really been a major selling point of the Monsterverse films, with largely forgettable characters, the group we have here are the most engaging and memorable we have had so far. Rebecca Hall does a great job returning as the film's lead. She is a solid anchor emotionally for the film and does a great job at selling her relationships with her adopted daughter Jia played beautifully again by Kaylee Hottle. The bond the two share is really touching and makes for a great core moment for the franchise. Bryan Tyree Henry returning as comic-relief, podcaster Bernie Hayes was also a lot of fun. More movies need Henry in them. But for me, the real stand out among the human characters was Dan Stevens as Trapper. The man has had a solid start to 2024 already, with performances in Godzilla X Kong and Abigail, two films I really love. Here, he just oozes charisma, giving a fun, energetic and likeable performance as Trapper. It was a lot of fun to see him in a movie this big. It is about time that Dan Stevens gets his dues!

‘Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’, was an absolute blast from start to finish. It’s a fun monster mash that remains light on story and character, which after 5 movies into the series, has become a staple at this point. But still, director Adam Wingard has a grip on what works here and when to add in the humour and character beats among the large-scale action. It’s blended perfectly, to make for a true cinematic spectacle. The cast here are a lot of fun, Rebecca Hall, Dan Stevens, Bryan Tyree Henry and Rachel House are all chewing the scenery and clearly having a blast with the action and monster mayhem. Overall, I enjoyed myself which is exactly what I wanted to do when watching this flick. It is pure movie escapism. This is a must-own for cinema fans and Monsterverse fans alike, to be sure to secure your copy for Godzilla X Kong on DVD, Blu-Ray or 4K Ultra HD today, you won’t want to miss it.

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Christopher Pattison wrote this blog post for Sanity. See more from Chris here