Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

 "Is that a mini-Kong?"
-Bernie Hayes



As Kong explores the Hollow Earth searching for his family, he uncovers an ancient foe of Godzilla that threatens to plunge the world into a new ice age.  A group of humans do their best to help Kong and Godzilla set aside their differences to come together and defeat the Skar King.



What Works:

The most important part of these movies has always been the bouts between the gigantic monsters and that is exactly where this movie shines.  The showdowns are a ton of fun with some bonkers and over-the-top action.  It's exactly what you want to see in a movie with both King Kong and Godzilla.  It's epic, badass, and occasionally hilarious.  In one scene, Kong uses a smaller ape as a weapon and it's the most I've laughed at a movie all year.

Tom Holkenborg returns from Godzilla vs. Kong to do the music, and it's a high point of the movie.  He uses a lot of synth, which really works for the film.  This is a case where I think the score is better than the actual movie.

Finally, this movie has the best villain of the series so far in Skar King.  The previous villain monsters haven't been given much in the way of personality, but Skar King is an evil dictator and really just a dick.  He tortures a Titan he has in captivity and the way he laughs is genuinely unnerving and creepy.  He's a character that is really easy to root against and once you meet him, all you can hope for is that he gets a gnarly and well-deserved death.


What Sucks:

Once again, the human characters are the worst part of these movies.  There aren't as many of them as usual, but none of them are interesting in the slightest.  There just isn't anything for the audience to get attached to.  The scenes with the humans made me want to fast-forward the movie.

The worst of the bunch is Bernie (Bryan Tyree Henry), who returns from the previous film.  I didn't like that a conspiracy theorist character was so integral to the plot last time and that he turned out to be right.  In today's world, I don't think that's a good message to be sending, so the fact that Bernie comes back in this movie is a problem.  Sure, he's the comic relief, but it isn't because of the conspiracy theory stuff.  It's a character we just don't need in any capacity.

Finally, there were times where the CGI didn't look the best.  Most of the time it looks great, but for a spectacle like this, it needs to be firing on all cylinders at all times.  That isn't the case.


Verdict:

Of the MonsterVerse movies, this is my least favorite apart from Godzilla.  I think the rest of the sequels got the balance of monster action and the human element better.  The monster action is still great here, the villain is solid, and I love the music, but the humans are just so dull.  The 3rd act makes this movie worth watching, but just barely.

 6/10: Okay 


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