Review – 'Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire'

* The article reveals part of the movie's content

Trailer 'Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire'

The new part about Godzilla, Kong is set a few years after the battle of the two legendary monsters in the work Godzilla vs. Kong (2021). At this time, Kong returned to his homeland on the Hollow Earth, discovered the whereabouts of his kind, and continued his peaceful relationship with humans. And Godzilla protects the ground world against the attacks of some Titans (super monsters).

The danger gradually appears when Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall) of Monarch - an organization specializing in Titan research - detects increasingly strong vibrations at the core of the earth. When she went underground, she and her colleagues discovered traces of ancient civilization. At the same time, evil forces arose here led by Skar King - a Titan shaped like Kong. Skar King also has a henchman named Shimo, a huge beast with the ability to freeze the entire city with his breath. Godzilla and Kong are forced to put aside conflicts to prevent the world from entering a second ice age.

Director Adam Wingard promotes his strengths in techniques and context to attract the audience. The battle scenes between the Titans are arranged interspersed between episodes of the film, while increasing the scale and ferocity. The film's storyline mainly revolves around Kong, a monster with emotions and a high connection with humans.

The danger of the villain is established by many details from the beginning of the film, such as a giant handprint on a cliff. Not only does he have outstanding strength, Skar King has a scheming and evil mind, controlling Kong's fellow humans as slaves, using whips made from his enemies' spines. In the second half of the film, the appearance of a super monster creates drama, contributing to changing the situation.

The Hollow Earth context is exploited more boldly and expanded than in the previous film. The underground world appears on the big screen as an ancient earth with strange creatures. In contrast to the primeval forests where Kong lived, Skar King's empire was portrayed as a hell with erupting volcanoes and animal bones filled with animals. Inhabited by the Iwi - a primitive tribe capable of communicating with the Titans - are rows of colored quartz. On the ground, the director chose the Titans' battle locations as famous monuments, such as the statue of God with open arms in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Although the effects are impressive, the script is not groundbreaking with predictable developments. The story of Kong's background is exploited relatively fully. At the beginning of the film, Kong is introduced sitting alone on a cliff, lost in his own kingdom. Later, the character has a powerful assistant - a little monkey - on the journey to fight evil, following the "reluctant duo" motif.

As Godzilla vs. Kong, the film has many segments between Kong and humans to increase the connection between the two character lines. Jia (Kaylee Hottle) - a girl from the Iwi tribe - plays a key role in the process of the group of characters learning about the origin of Kong and the Titans. Continuing to participate in the new part, Kaylee Hottle has more acting space when portraying the unstable psychology of a teenage girl. While confused by the question "Who am I", Jia received the protection of Ilene Andrews, her adoptive mother in the previous part. However, the relationship between the two is still vague, mainly added to increase the humane message of the film.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the work was given a low score by critics with 55% "fresh tomato" score out of more than 160 expert opinions. Sheet Empire evaluated the climax of the film as "a mess", while the characters on the human side were superficial. However, the film satisfied many viewers, receiving 92% positive scores from the audience.

Mai Nhat