Sci-Fi Epic Action Blockbuster On Max Takes Mega Franchise To New Heights
If you had told me in 2014 that Legendary’s relatively straightforward kaiju blockbuster Godzilla would eventually lead to a King Kong and Godzilla team-up film where they battle in the center of the Earth and Godzilla gets an anime power-up style upgrade, I would have said, “I’m in.” If you’re like me and appreciate when kaiju films embrace their goofy side, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is for you. The mega blockbuster is now available to stream on Max, and it’s a ton of fun.
Expanding The Monsterverse
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire takes place a few years after the events of Godzilla vs Kong, with Kong continuing to look for others of his kind in Hollow Earth and Godzilla, keeping the peace between humans and giant monsters on the surface. However, the emergence of a new threat known as the Skar King leads to the two needing to team up again. But you didn’t really come for the story, did you?
All About The Kaiju Throwdowns
If I’m going to watch Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, I want to see a bunch of huge kaiju fighting and the movie delivers in spades. While the critic reviews may note the lack of a meaningful story for the film, who really cares? Godzilla and Kong are fighting a bunch of monsters and that’s all that really matters.
A Big Year For Godzilla
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire also had the ideal timing of releasing around the same time as Godzilla Minus One, letting kaiju fans have their cake and eat it, too. On the one hand, you get a more dramatic and meaningful kaiju movie with Godzilla Minus One, and on the other hand, you get a WWE brawl between kaiju in The New Empire. The fans showed up for both films, too, as Minus One did great at the box office, and The New Empire raked in $569.7 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing Godzilla film to date.
The Humans Don’t Matter
While the humans don’t matter as much in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, the film still has a solid cast that includes Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens, Kaylee Hottle, Alex Ferns, and Fala Chen. It helps create a throughline from the previous films, so those who are invested in the ever-growing Monsterverse still have an ongoing story to latch on to.
Of course, the most interesting aspect of the human side of things continues to be the Monarch organization, which was explored in-depth in the fantastic Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Apple TV series.
Streaming On Max
REVIEW SCORE
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is a movie that does exactly what it says on the tin and nothing more. And if you want a movie that provides you with ridiculous monster fights, then you’re going to enjoy every minute of it. Of course, the success of the movie means there’s more on the way, with a sequel set for 2027. While we wait for the next big Legendary Monsterverse showdown, you can see Godzilla and King Kong battle the Skar King over on Max now.
