GODZILLA X KONG THE NEW EMPIRE

Stars: Rebecca Hall, Dan Stevens, Bryan Tyree Henry, Kaylee Hottle, Alex Ferns, Fala Chen and Rachel House.
Writers: Terry Rossio, Simon Barrett and Jeremy Slater.
Director: Adam Wingard

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ½

It’s 2024 and too much Godzilla is not nearly enough. Audiences ears are still ringing from the auditory assault that was the Japanese-produced, Oscar-winning international hit Godzilla Minus One and he arises once again (as he’s known to do) in GODZILLA x KING THE NEW EMPIRE. 

But if the big lizard is going to campaign for another Oscar come next year’s ceremony, it’ll have to be in the Supporting Actor category, because it’s his hairy monster mate Kong that takes the lead in the latest instalment of Legendary Pictures’ ‘Monster-verse’, which has included four films that have proven just globally successful enough to warrant subsequent narratives - Godzilla (2014); Kong: Skull Island (2017); Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019); and, Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) 

Returning director Adam Wingard opens with a giddy sequence that sets in motion exactly the kind of sensory onslaught you’ll face for the next two hours. In the alternate world of Hollow Earth, we find Kong fleeing a pack of reptile-wolf predators that prove really no threat at all. What has consumed Kong, however, is a bout of melancholy, a Titan-sized depression brought on by his disconnection from his species. 

This is reflected in the loneliness felt back on Earth by teenager Jia, played by the fantastic Kaylee Hottle, who is yearning to be reunited with her tribal ancestors, the Iwi people, and who shares an ET/Elliott-like bond with Kong. She lives with her adopted mom and Monarch boss Dr Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall), who is a bit preoccupied tracking increased activity by a certain giant lizard.

Kong’s narrative is the central plot; his discovery of an enslaved ape colony gives him hope of some same-species company but also provides a nasty villain in the shape of brutal overseer, Skar King and his ice-breathing pet-monster, Shimu. Godzilla’s fans may be frustrated that their preferred monster spends two-thirds of the film wandering the planet, charging himself up on nuclear energy in anticipation of a big final showdown. 

Kong understands to defeat Skar, he needs his old foe on his side. At the cost of most of Cairo and a pyramid or two, he (sort-of) convinces ‘Zilla to join him in Hollow Earth alongside Jia, Dr Andrews, sexy vet Trapper (Dan Stevens), Titan conspiracy podcaster Bernie Hayes (a shoe-horned Bryan Tyree Henry) and a stunningly-realised Mothra in all its elegance for an effects-heavy showdown.

Wingard only addresses real world issues and emotions in the most perfunctory of ways; so disinterested in his human characters is he that in big setpieces he all but lays waste to both Rome and Rio, with not a second to reflect upon the human lives lost. His cast doesn’t fare much better, with all but Hottle asked to do little else but look up and occasionally explain the plot.

No, this is all about the Titans and Wingard, upscaling pure Saturday morning cartoon energy to accommodate his big-screen vision for chaos and destruction, delivers all that as well as fully-earned if fleeting beats of wonder and emotion.

KONG: SKULL ISLAND

Stars: Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, John Goodman, Samuel L Jackson, Corey Hawkins, John Ortiz, Tian Jing, Toby Kebbell, Shea Wigham, Thomas Mann and John C Reilly.
Writers: Dan Gilroy, Max Borenstein and Derek Connolly.
Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts.

Rating: 3.5/5

The latest incarnation of moviedom’s iconic great ape is the sole convincingly emotional character in Kong: Skull Island, a decibel-defying mash-up of grand-scale monster movie, grunt-level military fantasy and state of the art effects showcase. Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts has the good sense to leave his human stars alone to earn their paycheques, instead ensuring the big, beautiful visual thrills of Hollywood’s umpteenth monster-monkey movie are delivered in spades.

As the Vietnam War effort winds down, crypto-zoologist Bill Randa (John Goodman) grasps his last opportunity to oversee a military-led exploration of Skull Island, an uncharted South Pacific jungle paradise. Soon, he and offsider Houston Brooks (Corey Hawkins) are on the high seas, under the slightly-too-twitchy eye of career soldier Colonel Preston Packard (Samuel L Jackson, bringing his unhinged A-game) and the heavily armed troop of future dead people. Along for the ride are Tom Hiddleston as dreamboat tracker James Conrad (who, oddly, does little tracking) and Brie Larson as tough gal photojournalist Mason Weaver.

Braving a massive storm front and emerging over the spectacular environment (mostly Australia and Vietnam), Vogt-Robert’s indulges in what amounts to helicopter porn, his whirring camera putting you in the cabins of the aircraft, capturing both the scale of the expedition’s journey of discovery and the terror as the angry ape brings the squadron mercilessly back to earth. A wondrous CGI creation that conveys both body (muscle and hair convinces) and soul (yes, they get the eyes right), the majestic monkey doesn’t take kindly to being flushed out by Randa’s dirty-bombs. Desperate to regroup, the survivors make their way through jungles filled with all manner of fantasy-sized beasts, most worryingly the breed of subterranean screeching lizard-things who share some personal history with the tall, dark leading man.

The production’s website boasts that the narrative is “an original new adventure”, and that is true; there is little of significance that ties Kong 2017 to past versions of the classic adventure story. The ‘Beauty and The Beast’ heart of Kong mythology, embodied by Fay Wray in ’33, Jessica Lange in ’76 and Naomi Watts in ’05, is hinted at but never fully developed. Turning Oscar’s cache into cash, Larson only has two key scenes with Kong. She does all she can with her feisty photog, which mostly means reinforcing the feisty and straining to find chemistry in the couple of meaningful scenes she has with her other leading man. Hiddleston conveys Conrad’s alpha male qualities via a series of square-jawed, chest-out moments, as if he is posing for his action figure mould, which is actually all that is required in the context of what is going on around him.

Film and audience alike are grateful for the arrival of John C Reilly as the WWII pilot Hank Marlow, who has survived on the island since his plane was downed there in 1943. The actor provides great comic relief just as the film needs it, but also highlights (via an admittedly exciting prologue) one of the many illogical developments in the script written by the trio of Dan Gilroy, Max Borenstein and Derek Connolly; what strategic military value would an air battle have over an island so remote as to remain undiscovered for another 30-odd years?

Less artful but more fun than the producer’s last monster reboot, 2014’s Godzilla, Kong: Skull Island neither demands nor encourages intellectual engagement. What it strives to be is a big, loud, bloody action-adventure, the kind of mid-March blockbuster that signifies the awards season is over and the heady days of summer movie going are nigh. One of Jordan Vogt-Robert’s directing strengths is that he has the chutzpah to forego otherwise crucial film staples as character dimensionality and subtext, but confidently delivering chest-thumping mass entertainment.