Cert – 12, Run-time – 1 hour 55 minutes, Director – Adam Wingard
Whilst Godzilla protects the surface, Kong discovers a threat in Hollow Earth which neither could take down alone, however can the two titans team up before it’s too late?
Despite getting top billing in the title Godzilla barely makes what most films would credit as a ‘special appearance’ in Godzilla X Kong. Perhaps he was busy filming Godzilla Minus One while this sequel to 2020’s Godzilla Vs Kong was in the works. Whatever the reason is, there’s a good deal of focus on Kong and a selection of human characters over the towering lizard – whose narrative strand is largely shown through other humans tracking him down. In total there are about three, perhaps four, different perspectives making up this clash, and potential team-up, of the titans as a new ape threat in Hollow Earth is discovered, and one which could cause destruction for the surface world if neither of the titular creatures can defeat it.
There’s a slightly busy, and occasionally slow, feeling to some of the scenes focusing on the human characters exploring Hollow Earth, trying to find the source of what they believe to be a distress signal. However, with the likes of returning Brian Tyree Henry, and Dan Stevens as a doctor for titans, there’s a good deal of humour injected into such moments to stop them from simply losing all possible entertainment factor. Focusing largely on Rebecca Hall’s Ilene Andrews and adopted daughter Jia (Kaylee Hottle) the pair are trying to make sure that Kong is safe, while discovering Jia’s roots, these scenes aren’t for exploring the underground world, that’s what Kong’s perspective is for.
As Kong wanders through new areas of Hollow Earth that it seems he hasn’t strayed into before we begin to meet the main threat at hand for the film, introduced somewhat late simply for the need for the film to have a villain and a reason for the titular creatures to team up eventually. Once in place this is where the majority of the action comes in, and there’s an enjoyable nature to it when things do kick off. This is a film that’s aware of what it’s depicting and tries to have fun with a number of its ideas – ice breathing creatures and Kong’s eventual robot arm included; the latter feeling as if it’s done simply because it’ll look cool, and it gets away with it. When unfolding on the surface there’s little dramatic impact from the buildings that are destroyed during battles, that’s what they’re there for after all, the push is simply making sure that the titan we’re told is evil doesn’t win.
For those wishing to see a repeat of the first film’s selling point of seeing the giant monkey lamp the lizard again you won’t be disappointed, Godzilla X Kong relishes in portraying that again in a fresh fight. In fact, the first meeting of the pair since the previous Monsterverse instalment is a highlight of the film, knowing not to let things drag on for too long before getting back into the other action at hand, where the ideas are truly let loose while still managing to successfully track the action. Plus, better intertwining the human sequences with the monsters for a generally better flow and sense of connection with each strand as they come together for the third act.
In a number of ways this is likely exactly what you would expect from a film such as this, and it’s an improvement on the human-dominated Godzilla Vs Kong. Yes, we still spend a good deal of time with these characters in this sequel, but there’s more humour injected into their scenes and more focus on the titans at hand – even if Godzilla is barely present throughout the almost two-hour run-time. This is an enjoyable, if occasionally bumpy due to multiple perspectives working at the same time, sequel with some entertaining monster scraps, and that’s what we want from this, isn’t it?
While suffering from a number of events and perspectives in the build-up, Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire is an amusing improvement on Godzilla Vs Kong featuring some entertainingly destructive monster fights.
Just A Little Bit Random 