Sommerleigh Pollonais, Senior Writer
Plot: Two ancient titans, Godzilla and Kong, clash in an epic battle as humans unravel their intertwined origins and connection to Skull Island's mysteries.
Review: While kaiju movies never really went away, they haven't been this popular or this bankable for some time. Godzilla and his frenemy Kong, excuse me, KING Kong, share the screen this time around in the biggest and beefiest sequel to date. But is it better than the movies that led up to it?
Can you imagine how that thing's breath smells? Now that is scary
There's a lot of ground to cover which is commendable considering the MonsterVerse franchise has only four films (and a television show) under its belt, but basically what we have here is Godzilla and King Kong teaming up to battle their mirror-like alter egos in director's Adam Wingard's take on Journey to the Center of the Earth.
On the positive side of the coin, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire delivers for fans whose only interest is in seeing these behemoths' reign pf mass destruction on the biggest screen they can find. The movie is at its best when the focus is solely on the "monsters" as their journey, especially that of Kong's desire to find a home and someone big and fluffy to share it with, make for the most interesting scenes. Personally, I've always been a 'Zilla fan myself and the eye-catching cinematography coupled with imaginative action sequences (especially the finale) never failed to put a big nerdy grin on my face.
That's no abbey. That's a crabby ape!
That said, GxK continues to fail its human characters, characters who feel more like NPCs (that's non playable characters for you non-gamers out there) than actual people we care for. Even returning characters like anthropologist Ilene (Rebecca Hall), conspiracy podcaster Bernie (Brian Tyree Henry) and Kong's tiny bestie Jia (Kaylie Hottle) leave little to no emotional impact on you. And with the exception of Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey, The Guest), who steals all the scenes he's in, the movie's energy almost grinds to a halt when the focus is taken off Godzilla and Kong.
Maybe if this debuted before the epic Godzilla Minus One, I would've been less inclined to notice these failings. Still, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is no slouch in the entertainment department. A popcorn movie if I've ever seen one, I wish they had made the sole focus of this movie the kaiju. It's the best aspects of the screenplay by far and it would've meant more screen time for Skar King, the big bad Kong must face and one of the more charismatic villains I've seen in a blockbuster for some time. Here's hoping Wingard and his crew take a long hard look at what truly makes these movies shine (the monsters) and give us more of that in the future.
Sommer's Score: 7 out of 10
Are you a fan of the MonsterVerse films? Which is your favourite? And you can check out more kaiju content from Robot Mango Reviews below:
GODZILLA VS KONG IS THE BEST MONSTERVERSE FILM YET
KING OF KONGS: TOP 8 MOVIES WITH THE BIG APE
PACIFIC RIM: THE BLACK S1 DELIVERS ON THE KAIJU ACTION
Julien "Editor Jules" Neaves is a TARDIS-flying, Force-using Trekkie whose bedroom stories were by the Cryptkeeper, learned to be a superhero from Marvel, but dreams of being Batman. I love promoting Caribbean film (Cariwood), creating board games and I am an aspiring author. I say things like "13 flavours of awesome sauce". Read more.
No comments:
Post a Comment