“Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire” Review: Hollow Earth, Hollow Action
Ken Jones, OnScreen Blog Chief Film Critic
2021 saw two worlds collide when Godzilla vs. Kong pitted the two Titans against one another in a showdown of two fan favorites not seen since Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. GvK (Did anyone even call it that???) director Adam Wingard is back, along with a drastically pared-down cast list, for its MonsterVerse sequel, Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire (The X is silent, apparently).
The previous film ended with an uneasy détente between Godzilla and Kong, with Godzilla being given free rein on the surface while Kong was free to roam about in the Hollow Earth underground. However, an ancient threat in the Hollow Earth threatens both worlds, requiring Kong and Godzilla to join forces to save the planet.
The story splits its time between Godzilla and Kong doing their own thing for most of the movie before bringing them together in the third act. Godzilla is fending off various Titans around the globe when he’s not curled up sleeping in the Roman Colosseum (for real). It turns out he is “powering up” anticipating a big threat.
Meanwhile, Kong is exploring Hollow Earth on his own, apparently lacing his area with booby traps for various monsters chasing after him. He discovers a deeper level to Hollow Earth (Hollower Earth???), discovers that he is not the last of his kind, and befriending a “mini-Kong” named Suko. Suko leads Kong to more of his kind.
On the human level, Rebecca Hall is back as Dr. Ilene Andrews, the woman in charge of running Monarch and whose adopted daughter, Jia (Kaylee Hottle), is struggling to find her place in this world as the last surviving member of the Skull Island Iwi tribe. They end up journeying into Hollow Earth in search of the source of a distress signal, along with a returning conspiracy theory podcaster Bernie (Brian Tyree Henry), and newcomer Trapper (Dan Stevens), a Titan veterinarian.
The plot is mostly nonsense and, as with the Godzilla vs. Kong, the human element is the plot's weakest and least interesting aspect. It’s also clear that the film is completely disinterested in the collateral loss of human life inflicted by Godzilla or Kong appearing in a major metropolitan city.
The humans are there mostly for token drama (Dr. Andrews and Jia) or comic relief (Trapper and Bernie). Kong and Jia, who share a connection from the previous movie, share similar journeys of seeking to find their place in the world but wind up with two different outcomes in that regard. That’s the closest the film comes to any depth or stakes.
It also is completely disinterested in the physics of large creatures. I don’t know why, but Godzilla’s agility and nimbleness are off the charts in this movie. Looking back at the first remake, 2014’s Godzilla, while there were moments during a fight where he would move more quickly, there was still a general lumbering nature to his movement, mainly because it was captured so often from a human perspective.
Throughout these sequels, the perspective has definitively changed from the human level to the kaiju/Titan level and now Godzilla and Kong move like giant athletes, hitting the ground running to take on their opponents in a tag team match in the movie’s climactic battle in Rio.
Of course, people do not go to see these movies for the science but rather for the spectacle of it all. And there is plenty of spectacle on screen that will probably entertain anyone interested in a superficial kaiju fight. Before teaming up with Kong, Godzilla literally suplexes him in the desert next to the Egyptian pyramids. And Kong gets fitted with a robotic exoskeletal arm to make him more powerful.
With the release and success of Godzilla: Minus One a film that grappled with the consequences of war, national shame, survivor’s guilt, and other themes, mere months ago, the spectacle of Godzilla X Kong rings a bit hollower than it normally would. Perhaps that is an unfair comparison because the two movies clearly have very different aims and aspirations, but the contrast is unavoidable.
There is something to be said for mindless action, especially if you are in the right mood, but part of me would still like to see Wingard and company aim higher. Sadly, turning off your brain to enjoy Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire is a prerequisite now.
I keep returning to comparisons like wrestling with these MonsterVerse Godzilla/Kong pairings, telling the same story in a new match with the same characters, just with slightly tweaked story elements and a fresh coat of paint on everything to keep the audience’s attention. The first pairing with these two started as a singles match and turned into a triple threat with Mechagodzilla. This one turns into a tag team match. What will the match stipulation be in their inevitable sequel in 2026 or 2027?
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars