Director Gareth Edwards established a new Godzilla at the start of the newly minted monster universe almost 10 years ago, and Kong: Skull Island then established a new monkey king. According to our YouTube moderator Yves Godzilla 2: King of the Monsters justified its existence simply through its epochal cinema images. Godzilla vs. Kong followed as a logical conclusion. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is now – and not just because of its title – a calculation that no longer works.
Yves explains here what the bottom line is with Godzilla x Kong:
Pretty STUPID: Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire | Review
The tragic monkey king, who is kidnapped by humans and put on display, has long since become an action figure in the Monsterverse. The allegorical giant lizard has developed from a traumatic symbol into a toy. And both were allowed to adapt the children’s room productions of many fans for the screen in a brutal showdown in the finale of Godzilla vs Kong. The second encounter can hardly improve in any meaningful way.
Godzilla x Kong overshoots the mark
In order to give the monster spectacle even more space, the human disruptive factor becomes a minor matter. There is no character development anyway. The focus is clearly set. But as a result, the ambitions that the series once had finally vanish into thin air. The post-credit scene from Godzilla: King of the Monsters, for example, seems to have simply been forgotten in the last 5 years. By the way, there is no longer any end credits scene in Godzilla x Kong. So it’s not worth staying seated.
The focus is entirely on the spectacle. However, the almost two-hour kaiju battle has a short half-life. If you’re looking for a serious Godzilla film to balance out the oversized monster wrestling, you should probably go for Godzilla Minus One.
The Japanese monster film recently won an Oscar for best visual effects. What’s impressive is that the production only had a fraction of Godzilla x Kong’s budget.