Over the years, with Godzilla being fully embraced by Hollywood, I do ponder - at what point appreciation became cultural appropriation for this killer lizard turnt beacon of mankind against even worse threats?
That said, when a new Godzilla movie came out, I still went in like a Mothra to Godizlla, pun intended.
Watching Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire feels like you are watching the Monsterverse version of Love Actually. Seemingly not related storylines going in parallel while you are well aware that they will converge in the third act.
Human characters were never the focus of Godzilla movies in the west, although they always tried to make it as if they cared about the human characters. So it is great that they now cut down the number of human characters, which for me, cut down the screen time for senseless screaming, which I always found annoying. Back are Rebecca Hall and Brian Tyree Henry, together with Kaylee Hottle as the Iwi girl who could communicate with Kong. This time the human story was a lot more focused, despite being very tokenistic. The fish out of water and trying to do the right thing troupe had been done many times, but then you needed to find an angle to put in some lines and fill in some plots right? Dan Stevens is a new character added to the mix with all the same stereotypes - a new carefree man who is extremely good looking and smart who happened to be an old flame of Rebecca Hall’s character. Whatever tension or chemistry they had, I cannot see. Though even after the 2 hour run time finished, I still have a huge question in my head - which university in the world has a veterinary course for titans and giant apes? Seriously, where did Dan Stevens’ character learn all that knowledge from?
Kong’s storyline was a bit more mellow than I thought. I guess once you’ve found a new home and there is nothing to kill apart from when you are hungry, it is just another 9 to 5 life for Kong. But of course, for Kong, just like humans, when you have your tummy filled and a roof about your head, you want company or companions. Euh, that is a bit too much for me to write on and I am afraid I might accidentally spoil everything that is already spoilery up to this point.
As for Godzilla, we know he was preparing for something at the expense of human architecture, but then the first question I had was, why was there another Titan ravaging when in the King of Monster movie, all the other Titans already acknowledged Godzilla as the King and agreed to retreat to their own domain? The only saving grace of all the rampage was the new use for the Colosseum in my humble opinion.
As I said, we expected the three story paths to converge in Act 3 and boy oh boy how converged they were. We love a Godzilla Kong team up fight, and with so many parties in the play in the final act it was a visual effect spectacle. I totally enjoyed the last act although there was nothing seat jumping about it. But we just want a good Act 3 with lots of cool actions that can continue to burn into our brains and retinas hours after the movie has finished, right?
For me one of the biggest disappointments was Fala Chen’s character. I understand that her character communicates telepathically, but then without even voice over telepathic communication, having her just standing around all day long is a complete waste of her talents. In an interview with a Hong Kong entertainment reporter, he asked her whether her previous role in one of the TV dramas in which she played a mute helped her in this role, Fala Chen tried to give a decent answer as much as possible, but now after watching the movie, I think it really is nothing compared to that role in the TV drama. I sincerely hope that Hollywood could come to appreciate her as an actor, because she is a bloody brilliant one.
A Godzilla movie is a Godzilla movie. So expect the standard and you won’t be disappointed with this one.
Oh also, there are no mid or post credit scenes, so you don't need to hold back your dash to the bathroom or toilet once the feature is finished.
