I have just seen Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire; and it was a total mess! Directed by Adam Wingard, and starring Rebecca Hall, Dan Stevens, and Brian Tyree Henry; Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is a monster movie, and sequel to Godzilla vs. Kong; in which Kong must once again unite with Godzilla, to stop a new threat hidden within the Hollow Earth! You know that phrase “Too many cooks Spoil the Broth“? Well in this case, it’s so inedible it’s probably best to chuck it in the bin before anyone gets a taste of it! It’s a total mess! Firstly, despite the fact that both Godzilla and Kong’s names are in the title; Godzilla is barely in it. You can’t promise two headline acts, and then make one an extra. Kong: Skull Island proves that Kong can handle a solo project, so don’t just add Godzilla for the sake of it. It’s like when X-Men: Apocalypse included Wolverine for the exact same reason!
There is no plot here. The film takes time to work on world building, despite doing just that in the previous film. As a result, there is no immediate plot, it’s like it’s just making one up as it goes along. You find yourself sitting in the theatre, half-way through, scratching your head, not knowing what any of this has to do with anything else. Basically, it’s a collection of live action saturday morning cartoons, stcuk together with sticky tape, and then the producers stepped back and said; “Yeah, that’s a film, it will work out eventually!” And they’ve padded it out with scenes which look like they are trying to rip off other successful franchises. Halfway through it looks like Dawn Planet of The Apes, the ending looks like it’s been ripped from The Meg, and the icy Stegosaurus, looks like it’s wandered off the set of How To Train Your Dragon. The human cast could be cut dramatically too. The buddy comedy relationship between Stevens and Tyree Henry is very silly, but this film is already totally bananas, so why not just have them two? Make it as silly as possible, and then it might be a passable attempt. The lead villain isn’t very well thought out. Firstly he is rather uncreative. We get to see fleeting glimpses of much cooler looking monsters, only for the big villain to be just another ape, ‘but this time it’s’ red. And then secondly, it takes all the time in eternity for him to either make an appearance, or do anything worthwhile to the film.
The film is basically trying too hard to go big. Monster Movies don’t need to be epic in scale, the monsters are already epic in scale! Why is it so hard for Hollywood to simplify these films? They are already big in nature, now just tell a simple easy to follow story, and let the monsters work in the epic department. You could make it a whole lot cheaper for a start, or better yet, use the saved money to invest in better CGI. Not only is this series of American Godzilla films going backwards, but CGI too. Why are the effects of Jurassic Park better quality than a film released 31 years later? It really irks me that this film exists, because it’s virtually all wrong. I can understand making a big special effects chatoic action film, but they are trying too hard, to do just that. It’s not the worst Godzilla/King Kong film made to date, but to quote a scene from The Social Network: “It’s just trying so hard to be!”
OK, Rant over…for now!
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