Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
The new installment in the Monsterverse puts the mighty Kong and the fearsome Godzilla against a colossal deadly threat hidden within our world that threatens the existence of their species and our very own, as well as diving deep into the mysteries of Skull Island and beyond. Delving straight into the origins of Hollow Earth, this film will explore the ancient Titan battle that brought man and monster together forever.
Kevin Ward reviewedJuly 1, 2025
It’s really fun in the ways that it’s supposed to be fun. It’s incredibly dumb in the ways that you can expect it to be dumb. I can praise the former and forgive the latter. The kaiju action, particularly in the last act, are about as good as you could ask for from a purely CGI spectacle standpoint, and it looked great on the big screen. The theater we were in had the sound cranked up LOUD and has the auditorium shaking. Worth seeing on the big screen. I don’t think it’s a movie that would hold up as well if you wait to stream on your phone.
That said, the story is nonsensical. Rebecca Hall and Brian Tyree Henry are dealt some of the most mind numbing faux-science jargon that it’s kind of impressive to watch them almost pull some of it off. The film requires such a massive willful suspension of disbelieve already just to enter into this world of Titans and kaiju, I don’t really understand why the films wastes so much time jumping through hula hoops trying to explain the science of these beings and the hollow Earth, and the Iwi people. I’m fairly certain they wouldn’t lose much of the audience if they cut out 90% of that garbage dialogue.
Score reflects the strong theatrical experience, though I expect it to not play as well on repeat viewings. The more times I watch Godzilla curl up like a kitty cat in the Roman Colliseum, or Kong successfully finding an out of network dental provider on short notice, those aspects might get old. For now, I kind of love them.