Now that Japan has shown us what they can do with their iconic monster, how does the US do when they add their iconic ape to the action?

 

Cast and Crew

Director: Adam Wingard

Writers: Terry Rossio, Adam Wingard, Simon Barrett

Rebecca Hall as Ilene Andrews
Brian Tyree Henry as Bernie Hayes
Dan Stevens as Trapper
Kaylee Hottle as Jia
Alex Ferns as Mikael
Fala Chen as Iwi Queen
Rachel House as Hampton
Ron Smyck as Harris

Premise

Two ancient titans, Godzilla and Kong, clash in an epic battle as humans unravel their intertwined origins and connection to Skull Island’s mysteries. (From IMDB)

High Point

Giant monsters beat each other up.  Any kid who smashed action figures together over and over will recognize the same thing as it happens on the screen with expensive CGI.  That’s why this movie exists, and it delivers on its promise.

Low Point

This is about as deep as the movie gets.  Thinking about it any deeper at all destroys the fun.  Catastrophic human death and destruction happens repeatedly, even having one mean person unceremoniously consumed in front of you before they are completely forgotten a scene later.  Even the way the monsters fight is absurd to the point that full professional wrestling moves are used.

The Scores:

Originality: 1/6 The only reason this movie got a single point at all was because they came up with a small outline of a story around the giant toys monsters hitting each other.

Effects: 5/6 This is a CGI slugfest, but because Godzilla Minus One came out so close and that Godzilla looked better (for cheaper.)

Acting: 3/6 The actors perform their parts well enough, but the assignment wasn’t difficult.

Emotional Response: 4/6 There are emotional moments that hit, and the movie conveys the feelings the inhuman characters have enough that you can follow along.

Story: 3/6 The story is on par with a fighting video game’s explanation for why the player is fighting each successive character in the one-player mode.

Production: 5/6 Each of the pieces to create this movie fell nicely into place, with new versions of existing toys characters to keep it interesting.

Overall: 3/6

In total, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024) receive 24/42