“Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” Movie Review

On March 29, 2024, "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire," Legendary Pictures’ newest account within their line of Godzilla films was released in theaters within the United States. The film is a sequel to the previous film, "Godzilla vs Kong," which was released three years ago, in 2021.

The film takes place three years after the previous account, and begins by explaining that Kong, the giant ape, resides and rules over the Hollow Earth, the inner ecosystem within the Earth, while Godzilla, the titular “King of the Monsters” rules over the surface layer, where the majority of humanity lives.

The primal instinct within the two giant monsters, or as the film calls them, “Titans,” causes them to be extremely territorial, coming into conflict if one or the other dared venture into the other’s territory.

The film’s first rising conflict comes when Kong comes through a portal to the surface looking for aid with an infected tooth, which already raises the question: why did he come to the surface and risk getting attacked by Godzilla when the humans have had technology in this series to go into the Hollow Earth without any issues?

Godzilla, who had killed Scylla, a spider-looking Titan at the beginning of the film, makes his way towards the arctic lair of Tiamat, another aquatic Titan, to kill and absorb her power, as her lair resides in one of the most energy-concentrated places on Earth.

After Kong gets his tooth fixed, he heads back to Hollow Earth, where a sinkhole has opened to reveal an uncharted region where a tribe of Kong’s species has survived in secret, including a juvenile ape named Suko.

Suko leads Kong to the tribe’s leader, a tyrannical giant orangutan named Skar King, who has weaponized a titan’s spine, tipped with a magical ice crystal that he uses to command another Titan, Shimo, who can breathe ice and was said to have caused the last ice age on Earth.

One of the highlights of this film is the fact that they were able to introduce both Skar King and Shimo with ease, and did so in a way that both gave them each a personality in a short amount of screen time while also giving them enough mystique to be interesting.

Suko helps Kong to escape, albeit Kong suffers extreme frostbite to his right arm, and loses his magical ax made from an ancient Godzilla-like spine, an interesting detail and another cool time a Titan ape has used a weapon in the series.

In more traditional "Godzilla" films, there is more of a focus on the humans and more of an emphasis on Godzilla for what he is: a massive monster. This is most likely the reason that most critics online are comparing it unfavorably to "Godzilla Minus One," another "Godzilla" film that was released last year by Toho Studios, the original company that produced the "Godzilla" films.

The film concludes with Godzilla and Kong teaming up against Skar King and Shimo, with the end of the movie resulting in the good guys winning and everything going back to normal, an ending that, although expected, left many opportunities for possibility.

This film, much like the rest of the Legendary Pictures "Godzilla" films, had a lot of interesting action scenes with corresponding musical scores that capture the deep emotions within the film. However, it would almost seem that the film was rushed, with many plot holes and events that are chalked up to “they’re animals.”

Clocking in at shortly under two hours, most of the plot felt forced, with very little explanation for plot events. However, Michael Dougherty and Zach Shields, who both co-wrote "Godzilla: King of the Monsters" and "Godzilla vs. Kong" released additional literary material, which included additional MonsterVerse lore, that could help explain plot events.

For newcomers to the "MonsterVerse," this is a film that could get confusing and have many first-time watchers hesitant to watch another, but for longtime fans of the series, it has become a relatively successful box office hit, doing better than expected.

Rating: 7.5/10

Gavin Rollman is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email gmr5526@psu.edu.