Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire / (Ecoa)

"Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" is a 2024 American monster film based on the Terry Rossio, Simon Barrett, and Jeremy Slater cowritten screenplay adaptation of the Terry Rossio, Simon Barrett, and Adam Wingard cowritten narrative, filmed in Gibraltar, Gold Coast, Hawaii, Rio de Janeiro and Village Roadshow Studios, directed by Adam Wingard; a sequel to 2021 Godzilla vs. Kong, the 13th in the King Kong franchise, and the 38th in the Godzilla franchise. The film stars Rebecca Hall as Dr. Ilene Andrews, a scientist and anthropological linguist at Monarch; Brian Tyree Henry as Bernie Hayes, a conspiracy theorist and former Apex employee; Dan Stevens as Trapper, a veterinarian at Monarch; Kaylee Hottle as Jia, last known survivor of the Iwi tribe and Ilene's adopted daughter; Alex Ferns as Mikael, a pilot at Monarch; and Fala Chen as Iwi Queen. Hall, Henry, and Hottle reprise their roles from the previous Godzilla vs. Kong 2021 film. In this film, Kong encounters more of his species in the Hollow Earth and must unite again with Godzilla to stop the tyrannical Skar King and the powerful, frost-breathing Shimo from invading the Earth's surface. Released on March 29, 2024, running 113 minutes.After the destruction of Hong Kong in the 2021 film Godzilla vs. Kong, the Monarch organization manages to acquire some parts of Mechagodzilla and start constructing the B.E.A.S.T. (Bio Enhanced Anatomech Seismic Thunder) Glove, a gauntlet created by Monarch under the codename "Project Powerhouse" to aid Kong in future conflicts. However, funding for the project eventually stopped, and Outpost 1 within Hollow Earth became the facility to store the B.E.A.S.T. Glove. Opportunity presents the necessity for its first use by Kong in this adventure. This is reminiscent of the Thanos Infinity Gauntlet, the powerful Dwarven-made Uru glove that was designed to channel the power of all six Infinity Stones in the electronic fist from the Marvel Legends Series.Monarch was founded in the late 1940s ~ 1954 as a secret Japanese-American quasi-governmental coalition in order to hunt and study massive unidentified terrestrial organisms (MUTOs). The 21st century Monarch leader Ishiro Serizawa's father, Eiji, is described as the "founding father" of the organization.It was disillusioning to see Kong aging with graying fur, getting a false tooth, suffering frostbite, and needing a gauntlet to defeat the simian Titan, Skar King. This should not be. The script and screenwriters do not know the godlike superspecies Kong of folklore, the Mighty King Kong. Godzilla showed no signs of age. So, who is King of Monsters? Both seemed weak in the face of lesser creatures that paled in comparison to the combatant creatures that came before them. This must be a farce.In the three MonsterVerse movies featuring both Godzilla and Kong in duet, Godzilla never wins a battle without Kong's help. This latest movie, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, is further evidence. How is it that Kong is aging and Godzilla is not? The MonsterVerse script writers don't favor Kong. They have even discontinued referring to him as King Kong. Why? In the first ever 1962 "King Kong vs. Godzilla," Kong defeats Godzilla. Now, in the MonsterVerse, they are Kaijū, lit. 'Strange Beast'. Kaijū characters are often somewhat metaphorical in nature; Godzilla, for example, serves as a metaphor for nuclear weapons. "Godzilla" (1954) was widely considered the first official Kaijū film. Since then, other characters are now referred to as Kaijū, including King Kong, Rodan, Mothra, King Ghidorah, and Gamera. Thus, Kong became second rate, even though he 'saved the day' for Godzilla more than once. Bear in mind that Kong was always a 'good guy', and Godzilla was a 'bad guy' until the 1964 battle with "Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster" (aka "Three Giant Monsters: The Greatest Battle on Earth"), when he became a 'good guy'; a heroic monster, battling terrible villains only after Mothra convinced Godzilla and Rodan to join forces. As a 'good guy', Godzilla never won a battle without help. So, in my mind, Kong is still King.I have only a few Godzilla movies but every Kong movie. This 2024 movie is my least favorite; still a worthy addition to my collection.

Excellent film. Lots of fun.

Adam Wingard’s 2024 film “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” is the fifth entry in Legendary Pictures’ Monsterverse franchise. It picks up following the events of Wingard’s 2021 film “Godzilla vs. Kong” in which Kong relocated to Hollow Earth while Godzilla patrols the surface world fending off various Titans. A signal begins emanating from Hollow Earth that leads Monarch scientist Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall) to seek out Bernie Hayes for his input (Brian Tyree Henry). Along with Trapper (Dan Stevens) and Jia (Kaylee Hottle), they travel to Kong’s realm to investigate. There, they find the Iwi, a group similar to Jia’s people from Skull Island who have knowledge of a dangerous Titan named Skar King. Kong faces off against Skar King, but barely survives. A juvenile ape, Suko, helps Kong to navigate that world. Meanwhile, Godzilla fights off Tiamat and begins accumulating new power to fortify himself. The Monarch group must help Kong to recruit Godzilla in order to fight Skar King and Shimo, a beast that has radioactive ice breath and previously caused an ice age fighting members of Godzilla’s species. The only way to make peace between Godzilla and Kong is for Jia to help summon Mothra as only a person from Skull Island can connect with Mothra. All of this culminates in a big monster battle between Skar King’s loyal apes and the Godzilla and Kong alliance.The film is fun for fans of the Monsterverse and spends a great deal of time exploring Hollow Earth and Kong’s perspective. Wingard does an admirable job dramatizing scenes of the various Titans without any dialogue, but still creating a visual narrative where the audience can understand each creature’s motivations. Each film in the Monsterverse has a distinctive color palette and “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” is no different. With each Titan glowing during their power-ups and Wingard using particularly vibrant colors for Hollow Earth, the film pops and visually draws the viewer into the story. The neon aesthetic and font for the film’s logo resembles the ’80s references found in so many current film properties like “Thor: Love and Thunder,” “Stranger Things, “Ready Player One,” and more. Where Toho’s current Godzilla films – “Shin Godzilla” and “Godzilla Minus One” – have more of a grounded feel despite the presence of kaiju, the Monsterverse has embraced a heightened or fantastical tone beginning with its second film. The color saturation that cinematographer Ben Seresin uses helps to further differentiate Toho and Legendary’s Godzilla franchises. Bonus features on this Blu-ray include commentaries, vignettes looking into the various Titans, and behind-the-scenes featurettes. Fans of this series will enjoy further exploring the world of the Monsterverse.