Movies about big monsters have always stirred something important inside the human consciousness. The Japanese, who are famous for their kaiju genre, have especially mastered this topic. But the West is trying to keep up. Over the past few years, he’s even been doing it relatively well with the MonsterVerse cinematic universe. “Godzilla and Kong: New Empire” is the most recent part of this universe at the moment. We’ll tell you in our review how it turned out.
Pros:
an outstanding production that handles its gigantic protagonists wisely; technical performance is excellent; music and sounds stand out amazingly and are memorable; big monsters beat each other beautifully, which is a huge plus in itself
Minuses:
the “human” segments are noticeably inferior to all other moments in the movie; If, after all, you are not able to feel the battles of the titans, then the film will not find a response from you
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
Genre sci-fi monster movie
director Adam Wingard
Starring: Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens, Keli Gottle, Alex Ferns, Fala Chen
Premiere cinemas
Release year 2024
IMDb website
Godzilla and Kong managed to reach a tentative truce after the events of Godzilla vs. Kong. The first is engaged in “patrolling” the surface of the Earth and destroying other monsters, the second is studying the underground part of the planet. It is precisely on the fact that the two great monsters do not intersect that the precarious peace and tranquility of humanity rests. However, numerous signals indicate that something more terrible will soon attack the Earth. And only a forced truce of old enemies can save everyone.
Let’s get straight to the point. Godzilla & Kong: New Empire is a great movie that understands almost perfectly how to tell stories about big, bombastic monsters. It looks amazing and sounds good, and the final battle has no buts and is sure to keep you on your toes and enjoying every second of it.
To some extent, the entire review could be made up of just gifs of monster fights – and that would perfectly tell you everything you need to know about this movie.
Well, as is already clear to attentive readers, almost everything. Because Godzilla & Kong: New Empire is not 115 minutes of bombastic monster battles. And even if you understand with critical thinking that in this case the entire amazing effect would somewhat come to naught, you still partially want just such a development of events. However, Hollywood strives to shoehorn family drama into almost any story, even when it is not very appropriate there. The example of “Five Nights at Freddy’s” clearly proves this.
The film Godzilla and Kong: New Empire did not escape this attitude. There is a general consensus among fans that the weakest moments of the MonsterVerse come from the human segments. This film was no exception.
Here they are trying to show us a family drama, to reveal the relationships of bright, albeit stereotypical characters. Everything here is maintained at a minimum acceptable level of quality, even if it doesn’t evoke any special emotions. Certain segments with the traditions of one people generally cause boredom, but they look pleasant from an aesthetic point of view.
However, one point is indicative here. One of the characters, whom the script tries to make seem like he’s not even the last, is eaten by a monster in a second somewhere in the second act of the movie. And that’s it, no tragedies or unnecessary dramas.
This segment characterizes all cinema, and for many – on the positive side. It is primarily about monsters, and people here serve as a kind of glue for plot segments. Yes, not the most interesting, but the authors seemed to understand this themselves, so they very competently focus your attention on the battles of the giants.
However, Godzilla and Kong don’t just fight here. Or rather, Kong is responsible for the more dramatic component, who turned out to be as human as possible in the film. In addition, he was given more interaction with his “relatives,” which takes him to a fundamentally new level of empathy. It is interesting that unique “dialogues” are built here between the giant monkeys, which you understand without unnecessary words or explanations.
Godzilla in local history is the embodiment of aggression and relentless strength. It’s not just that several monsters were singled out for him at once, which under other circumstances could have become the central villains. But Godzilla deals with them without much difficulty – to everyone’s delight. The same sound effects are in place, so fans of the classics will rejoice separately.
Of course, one can try to analyze the film from a more serious point of view. Analyze dialogues, direction, camera work, editing, pacing of the story and other nuances. But here we have a case where this is not necessary. This approach will only destroy all the pleasure. Giant monsters beat each other with extravagant methods, what kind of film criticism is there?
From a technical point of view, the movie looks great. This is very important for projects where you need to look at computer graphics most of the time. The CGI in IMAX looks great, and the spacious landscapes are especially attractive. The music and sound effects are also top notch, with the Junkie XL still capable of creating a unique sound for seemingly simple Hollywood blockbusters.
This is a film in which the action is so all-consuming that even people who prefer calm narratives will enjoy it. Adrenaline is off the charts here, dopamine is produced. What else do you want?
Conclusion:
“Godzilla and Kong: The New Empire” does not claim the heights of drama, but it gives pure, unclouded pleasure. You should definitely watch this only in the cinema, because at home the effect will not be the same. And don’t be too hard on the segments with people, they’re not critically bad here.
