Godzilla x Kong's First Reactions Offer Titanic Action and Little Else
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We’re on enough of a regular cadence with Legendary’s Godzilla franchise—now expanded in the recent entries to give top-billing to an extra co-star in King Kong—that we should probably expect at this point when people say the new one is full of good dumb action and not much else. But, stop us if you’ve not heard this one before! Godzilla x Kong sounds like much the same.
The early reactions for Adam Wingard’s second crack at the kaiju whip in The New Empire are here, and... mixed isn’t the right word, perhaps, but more of a re-establishment of expectations. There’s plenty of praise for the action on display as Godzilla and Kong team up for more giant-sized spectacle, and... well everyone mostly otherwise skims over the bits of the movie that involving things that are smaller than your average skyscraper. Unless they’re Dan Stevens, apparently, who gets a ton of praise.
It’s kind of a shame—especially coming in the wake of the excellent Monarch TV show, which used its length to give us a bunch of interesting characters to care about in between them being chased by monsters—but perhaps unsurprising at this point. We’ve known from pretty much the moment we saw footage The New Empire would be following in the footsteps of its predecessors, and not a western companion piece to the likes of Godzilla Minus One. Now we can just be blessed to exist in a world where two Godzilla-focused movies are out in the ether at the same time offering very different takes on the King of All Monsters (or, well, would be if you could actually still watch the Oscar-winning Minus One anywhere right now. Womp womp!). Check out a few more reactions below, starting with io9's very own Germain Lussier:
#GodzillaXKong: The New Empire is underwhelming. It feels like 90% set-up for a final battle that's solid but can't live up to all that build-up.
There is a fresh approach to the characters, which works, but it never quite gels with the main story. Dan Stevens does rip though. pic.twitter.com/0PDPEB9P8I— Germain Lussier (@GermainLussier) March 26, 2024
#GodzillaXKong hits plenty of sweet spots for me! Tons of wild kaiju action, a brutal villain for Kong, a powered-up Godzilla, Dan Stevens having a blast, some legit surprises, and so many colors. Bring me more MonsterVerse! pic.twitter.com/eaxDkJwmnF
— Aaron Neuwirth (@AaronsPS4) March 26, 2024
Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire suffers from an extremely slow start due to lack of dialogue, which is more cheesy than entertaining. When Titans go toe-to-toe, the action is incredible but that's not enough. Looks pretty but unfortunately misses more than it hits. #GodzillaXKong pic.twitter.com/L9qQYTHIzF
— Tessa Smith - Mama's Geeky (@MamasGeeky) March 26, 2024
#GodzillaXKong is a really great King Kong movie. The human stuff is notably clunky (poor Rebecca Hall saddled with so much dry exposition) but Kong has so many scenes centered on him and I just loved the big guy. And the final fight sequences are pure monster mayhem delight. pic.twitter.com/un2iVtHz8f
— Eric Goldman (@TheEricGoldman) March 26, 2024
#GodzillaXKong is a momentous spectacle that dazzles with its vibrant technicolor visuals. The epic battles btwn the titans are jaw-dropping and are accompanied by a story with a gargantuan heart. Plus, there’s Dan Stevens flexing in a Hawaiian shirt for 2 hours. pic.twitter.com/PsBMAdsQjH
— Shannon | #FreePalestine 🇵🇸 (@shannon_mcgrew) March 26, 2024
#GodzillaxKongTheNewEmpire wasn’t able to hit as hard as the first film. Fight scenes were not as exciting. Human plot lines even worse and uninteresting. Not a terrible movie but a downgrade. Final act was fun though.
Check out @TomMCJL’s review dropping @HollywoodHandle pic.twitter.com/ltWkGpHxxg— Ricardo (@ricardoaymarr) March 26, 2024
GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE rules. Dir. Adam Wingard fully embraces the tone of a fantasy rock opera, complete with a synth-heavy score, heavy metal visuals, and killer 80s needledrops.
Incredibly silly and heartfelt at times, it's a sincere love letter to the Shōwa Era. pic.twitter.com/bwRJvJdSpb— Andrew J. Salazar (@AndrewJ626) March 26, 2024
#GodzillaXKong is a noisy titan brawl with hardly any human heart to engage us on an emotional level. But audiences coming for the fights alone are getting a supremely awesome tag team match between Godzilla and Kong vs Skar King and Shimo. #GodzillaxKongTheNewEmpire pic.twitter.com/oqEdpiWxEq
— Michael Lee (@IamMichaelJLee) March 26, 2024
GODZILLA X KONG is an absurdly fun ride. A teaming of titans with tremendous scale and a fast-paced adventure. This movie knows to deliver pure fun on a huge scale. My advice, just strap in and enjoy the ride. pic.twitter.com/w8WCk2c0C1
— Heroes Unbound (@HeroesUnbound) March 26, 2024
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is the most enjoyable MonsterVerse movie yet, the one where it feels everybody understood the assignment. Story is a bit thin, but the titan smashing more than makes up for it. #GodzillaXKong pic.twitter.com/gk8gDeYXhT
— Ian Sandwell (@ian_sandwell) March 26, 2024
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire hits theaters March 29—stay tuned to io9 later this week for our full review.
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