GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE – The Red Right Hand Movie Reviews [Matthew Stogdon]

Starring
Rebecca Hall
Kaylee Hottle
Dan Stevens
Brian Tyree Henry

A few years after the events of Godzilla Vs Kong, a fairly stable truce exists. On the surface, Godzilla continues to dispatch giant monsters, while Kong remains in Hollow Earth (a subterranean realm) looking for any sign of his kind. This equilibrium is disturbed when signals begin to emanate from deep underground and Godzilla begins hunting titans as a means to power himself up. At the same time, Kong discovers a network of giant apes but they’re being ruled by the tyrannical Skar King. And these two events are brought together by Jia [Hottle], the only survivor of the Iwi tribe on Skull Island, receiving the same signals, prompting her adoptive mother Dr Andrews [Hall], to team up with podcaster Bernie [Henry] and titan-biologist Trapper [Stevens] to descend into Hollow Earth and investigate. And, yes, if this is somehow your first entry into this particular corner of the Godzilla franchise, absolutely none of that will have made any sense.

Not five months ago, we saw the release of Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters and the Oscar winning Godzilla Minus One. Both had plenty of carnage and destruction but were driven by strong emotional beats and compelling character arcs. And for anyone hoping this US-led flagship title would emulate some of those traits, you’re going to be disappointed. From the opening scene, audiences are reminded that this is an unapologetically gooey, campy and schlocky release with tonnes of fights and green blood spraying everywhere. And, while I believe all good Godzilla releases should aspire to say something of significance, this movie unabashedly has nothing to say. It’s far too preoccupied with cheesy needle drops, kaiju dentistry, mech arms, wrestling moves and swatting enemy chimps with a baby monkey. And for some people, that will be a selling point, rather than a detraction.

And it’s this clear intention to tell a base, rompy action story that actually works in this movie’s favour. It doesn’t shoe-horn unnecessary subplot side quests to busy the human characters, and in fact scales a lot of the human component down from the previous instalment – which will delight a specific sect of the audience, who deride any distraction from monster clashing. That said, there’s still a human presence but they are all incredibly one-note; to the degree that every single character’s one sentence base description is dialled up. Trapper is a nature loving daredevil so he’s remarkably carefree and able to assess and treat seemingly any physical setback for Kong, Bernie’s erratic conspiracy comic-relief energy is non-stop, and Dr Andrews is mum first, scientist second, meaning her entire motivation and actions are reactive and led by her need to protect Jia. And, to give each actor credit, they throw themselves into their characters without cynicism or chagrin and seem to be having a lot of fun in the process.

Now, it has to be noted, this is not a good film. Sure, it picks a lane and sticks to it but the writing is still remarkably bad and simplistic, with countless examples of excessive explicit exposition. Not to mention several other developments that simply happen without explanation or justification. But, to reiterate, this is because Godzilla x Kong has little interest in story – these are simply threadbare connections to justify more fighting. Granted, we have Godzilla sensing something is afoot and levelling up to prepare for battle, and Kong’s search for a community results in him finding his people but learning they’re led by an oppressive ruler. But that’s really it. Everything else is driven with the sole motivation of spectacle. And it achieves that quite well as, visually, the CGI slogfest is clean and easy to watch. Sure, a lot of the scale feels lost at times but you can tell who is who and what’s happening throughout the wall-to-wall action.

At this point, I don’t know how much mileage this run has left. But considering that over the last ten years, these films have made around two billion dollars, I can’t imagine it’ll grind to a halt anytime soon. And, to be perfectly honest, these movies are being constructed for a very specific target audience who, for the most part, enjoy what’s being offered. So, if it ain’t broke by the weight of a giant lizard suplexing an impossibly massive monkey through it, don’t fix it.

Release Date:
29 March 2024

The Scene To Look Out For:
The final fight in Rio de Janeiro is laughably ridiculous. The battle in question consists of a four way skirmish between different monsters but the sheer disregard for human life is what’s most notable. Every major building falls victim to the brawl and while the population is only briefly shown when said monsters turn up, the film never stops to address the reality of the millions dead. Largely because its focus on having fun can’t be impacted with a juxtaposition between the rampaging chaos and the human death toll. Making the entire ordeal a far cry from the sombre destruction of 2014’s Godzilla.

Notable Characters:
Dan Stevens’ larger than life, adventure-happy titan veterinarian somehow works very well. Seemingly every time one of these movies is released, a large portion of the cast are jettisoned and new additions make up the difference. And his almost 90s Saturday morning cartoon energy fits the movie’s overall mindless shenanigans perfectly.

Highlighted Quote:
“An SOS for what, they already live in a nightmare monster hellscape, what else could they be afraid of?”

In A Few Words:
“Godzilla x Kong is a confectionary with one ingredient used heavily throughout and little thought for anything else. It’s edible but not to everyone’s taste.”

Total Score: 2/5

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