Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Review: Just a Bit of Fun but Perhaps We Deserve More

It is a testament to Adam Wingard's $470 million grossing Godzilla vs. Kong, which hit audiences during the pandemic in 2021, that Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire kicks off right in the middle of the action.

Wingard knows his audience is pre-bought, so is afforded the luxury of throwing us in at the deep end and expecting us to catch up.

He knows his characters and their idiosyncrasies, and Kong is the first player we get to cross paths with.

Here in Hollow Earth - to quote Ryan Gosling in Barbie - Kong is "just a dude". One who is tired of the nonsense, trying to go about his day while asserting his authority across a land riddled with enormous wild monsters that are just a fraction of his size.

Of course, Kong is not the only dude in this film. Godzilla gets equal billing in the title, so we don't have to wait long before we see him stomping his way through Rome, Italy, leaving destruction in his wake in pursuit of saving the people from an equally nonsensically sized crab.

From the off-set, Wingard is telling us: "It's just a bit of fun".

So when Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Kaylee Hottle and Dan Stevens turn up, it's frustrating that their story and rapport are far more compelling than whatever's going on between the two supposed stars of the show.

Brian Tyree Henry is an Academy Award nominee for a reason. He makes everything he's in far more compelling, and his deep earnestness in his role of Bernie Hayes is endearing. He is representative of the audience, a fanboy who has been given unprecedented access to the heart of the action, and every line that falls from his mouth warrants a chuckle.

Rebecca Hall and Kaylee Hottle have their own tender narrative playing underneath the absurd fun of Henry's. Their relationship is sweet and warm but not given nearly the screen time it deserves.

Dan Stevens also brings a lighthearted edge to the film with his quick quips and oddities as the veterinarian to Kong, who has so many wacky ideas that it's hard to keep up with. He and Rebecca Hall's Ilene Andrews have a fun flirtationship going on that equally is distracted from by Godzilla and Kong's clobbering.

Ultimately, that's what people are here for, and there's no way you can leave disappointed if you've come to this film with the expectation of seeing two CGI entities mashing each other and every piece of architecture in their wake.

Maybe it's the rise of AI or perhaps the lack of respect and kudos for visual effects and craftspeople receive in the industry, but there is something so painful about watching a film that clearly lacks anything handmade or human throughout.

What made these films so astounding in their conception was the necessity to just make do with what was available to filmmakers who had to utilise practical effects to excite, dazzle, terrify and enchant their audiences.

Now, it feels as though we are overwhelmed by options that we forget to care.

Human hands may be responsible for generating the images of Godzilla x Kong, but none of them look or feel authentic. How can audiences be expected to even begin to fathom fear, terror, anguish or astonishment when nothing in the frame feels tangible or real?

With a $135 million budget, there are infinite possibilities to attempt to build a physical world for the actors to play in while crafting thoughtful and intricate creatures that are used sparingly to keep the allure going.

It may be naive to expect so much from a film made predominantly to bring crowds in their hundreds to the box office, but it feels necessary to ask for and expect more.

You may have to get in line and claim your killjoy badge, but eventually, audiences will grow tired of recycled big-budget studio blockbusters designed solely to grab their cash and not their hearts.