Godzilla X Kong (2024) - Review

‘Godzilla x Kong’ is pure CGI chaos — and so much fun - Before seeing “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” my nine-year-old daughter and I did our homework. We didn’t want to go into the newest Monsterverse movie unfamiliar with the lore. Monsterverse, for the uninitiated, is Legendary Entertainment’s cinematic universe that revolves around Godzilla and King Kong. The Monsterverse explores the existence of ancient, giant monsters known as Titans and the secret organization called Monarch that studies and attempts to control them. We gathered the family, even those who are less inclined to enjoy movies about giant monsters, and over the course of three weekends, we watched three of the movies that preceded “Godzilla x Kong” — “Godzilla” from 2014, “Kong: Skull Island” from 2017 and “Godzilla vs. Kong” from 2021. These movies were good, fine and ridiculous, respectively. By “Godzilla vs. Kong,” wherein Godzilla and King Kong team up to defeat Mechagodzilla, it was pretty clear the Monsterverse team had run out of ideas. Yet, they went ahead and made another film. And I have to respect that, as someone who knows that the most insane ideas are usually born within a dearth of ideas. And indeed, “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” is one of the most unhinged pieces of media I’ve ever seen, and my daughter and I had the time of our lives watching it. The movie is a surprise hit, having grossed more than $485 million on a budget of $135 million. The reviews have been less-than-enthusiastic, but I really don’t think anyone going to a sequel of a sequel of a sequel is expecting prestige. Three weeks after the movie’s opening, our theater was full. Together we all experienced what felt like a fever dream. At the start of the film, Godzilla fights another Titan (a giant monster, one of many that now rule the Earth, apparently) in Rome and proceeds to take a nap in the middle of the Colosseum, curled up like a cat. Meanwhile, King Kong has a toothache. He uses a portal in Hollow Earth (the Earth is hollow, it turns out, and underneath the surface is a technicolor bizarre, subterranean world full of giant, dangerous creatures) to pop up on Earth’s surface so a Titan veterinarian named Trapper can pull his tooth using a helicopter.