Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Reviews

Adam Wingard returns to direct Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Unfortunately, of the three original writers, only Terry Rossio returns, with replacements Simon Barrett and Jeremy Slater. The change shows, with the various interesting kaiju picking up the slack from the flat, underdeveloped human characters.Monarch monitoring tracks Godzilla on the move, as he seemingly prepares and charges up for something big. Meanwhile, the Monarch station assigned to Hollow Earth and Kong has mysteriously gone dark shortly after Jia (Kaylee Hottle), the adopted Iwi daughter of scientist Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall) starts showing signs of having a direct connection to some unusual seismic disturbances there. They, along with Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry), Trapper (Dan Stevens), and Mikael (Alex Ferns) make a trip to Hollow Earth, only to discover that an unknown force has destroyed the base. As it turns out, the damage was caused by the foe that Godzilla has been unknowingly preparing for, but it will take more than his prowess to defeat it. Rossio, Barrett, and Slater do a great job with all the kaiju scenes, but a lot of the human interaction lacks substance, and the characters are very stereotypical. This stunts the film when they are on screen. Most of the performances are cut and dried, with no life breathed into them. The lack of character development is unfortunate because the Iwi clearly had a great deal of thought put into their story, but very little of it is related. Fortunately, Wingar managed to cut these scenes back and forth with the kaiju efficiently so the film doesn't drag. In fact, the kaiju have the expression of character that the humans lack, so their scenes are very enjoyable. The kaiju, and by extension, the special effects, are the rightful start of this film. They are all expressive and believable, conveying emotion through gestures and facial expressions without the need for words. And their battles are spectacular and easy to follow, which is a great feather in the SFX team's cap, considering their size. The new monsters are exciting and fun to look at, even if some are short-lived. But it isn't just the monsters that are tip-top; the scenery, especially that in Hollow Earth, is lovely and often breathtaking. Despite the lack of three-dimensional characters, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is quite enjoyable for the very reason these films have been so popular for seventy years - big monsters fighting. Plus, adding more than passing personalities for these gargantuas is a monumental bonus.