Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire: Movie Review

Cast: Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens, Kaylee Hottle, Rachel House, Alex Ferns, and Fala Chen

Director: Adam Wingard

If you're going to Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire for an intellectually stimulating time, you're fresh out of luck.

Wingard's latest MonsterVerse movie is less interested in its narrative and more concerned with extended build up to a final monster showdown as well as seeming at times like an backdoor episode of Planet of the Apes.

As the threat from beneath the Hollow Earth emerges, and both Godzilla and Kong have to face off against enemy the Skar King and his minions, there are one or two surprises, but really it's less interested in spending time with the human elements of the cast, more concerned with fitting Kong with a Transformers-style robot fist and letting him go smashing.

(Talking of which, Godzilla now has a pink hue as well, perhaps indicating Warner Bros. Barbie takeover of every franchise is now complete.)

It's not that the humans don't have some fun - former Downton Abbey's Dan Stevens is clearly having a blast as the Hawaiian shirted goofball vet who's prone to cheesy moments. But for every Stevens' moment with 80s needle drops, there is a swathe of Rebecca Hall being saddled with heavy exposition - and even Henry's conspiracy theorist blogger has been dialled down in this latest.

Yet the humans are not the stars of the show here, and in fairness, neither is Godzilla.

After the truly magnificent Godzilla Minus One showed what could be done with the creature, it's disappointing to note that Kong is the only one afforded a level of depth here. From early scenes highlighting his loneliness (and even a shower sequence) to his joy at finding others from his kin, it's clear the writers have looked to the Planet of the Apes and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers for inspiration and come away with some.

Godzilla meanwhile is left to skulking underwater, smashing things and in one hilarious ongoing visual gag, curling up in Rome's Coliseum - it's an undignified approach to the kaiju king to say the least.

Throw in elements of Prey as well and you have some indication of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire's lack of depth - albeit the film celebrates its own shortcomings and just simply gets on with the job it needs to do. 

It's more homage to other films than its own definite brand - and while the creature chaos is carefully choreographed and defined so it doesn't become a CGI blur and the movie offers some vicarious blockbuster bombast and enjoyment, it's still nothing more than icing on a frustratingly hollow cake.