Directed by Adam Wingard, who also directed Godzilla vs. Kong, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is the fifth entry in the MonsterVerse. This entry follows King Kong settling into Hollow Earth after the events from the previous entry. While there, he encounters more of his species and must unite with Godzilla to stop their powerful leader, as well as a climate-changing Titan. I revisited the franchise in chronological order before seeing this one, and I’d say as time has gone on, there seems to be a working formula that sticks and I believe this film fits that perfectly.

Going into the film, all I wanted were monsters fighting. I can never really get into the human characters. All they do is explain things to the audience. Since no actor sticks around for anymore than two movies, it’s even harder to connect with them, so why care? While the human characters are a bit more of the same of what we are used to, I’d say the film delivers on the action. The film takes a very different approach than what I was expecting. At first, it did subvert expectations, but in hindsight, I can appreciate the film doing something different.

Ten years ago, Adam Wingard dropped one of my all-time favorite movies, The Guest, which also starred Dan Stevens who shows up in this film! Billed only third in the lineup, it’s fair since the other two – Rebecca Hall & Brian Tyree Henry – were in the last. What’s funny during my watch is that I noticed how much smaller the cast was compared to the other movies, and I had a funny feeling that it was budgetary. As it turns out, that is true as this film is reportedly the least expensive film made in this franchise. There seems to be a connective tissue in the Hollywood business as Kung Fu Panda 4 went through the exact same thing. While that sounds like a bad thing, I believe it works here as it shows that viewers care more about the monsters over the humans.

The biggest problem that this franchise has had with its human characters is they are solely added to give expositions to the viewers, which is not only annoying, but it takes you out of connecting with what could be relatable characters. In this one, it’s pretty much more of the same, with the exception of people saying less stupid things, because of the smaller cast. This trio of cast members is something that I didn’t know that I needed. The film lets them be together and no one is off doing other things. There are some nice emotional moments with the humans, especially with Rebecca Hall and the girl that plays her daughter, but even then, the story about her daughter can be far-fetched at times.

I would even say that this film gives the monsters the most screentime. There is still a bias towards Kong, a complaint I had with the previous film, but I love how well the visuals look. Between this and Godzilla Minus One, I am hoping that studios can see that these films can be successful without having a bloated budget. On first glance, I really wasn’t sure how this franchise could continue after this film. After viewing the film, I think the way the story is played out allows for more stories to tell, only if those stories don’t drag this franchise out to its grave.

On top of the incredible visuals, Adam Wingard once again delivers a fast-paced product that feels like it’s moving at a million miles an hour and I love that for a runtime that’s less than two hours. The needle drops also reminded me of The Guest. Seriously, I never would have thought ten years ago that Wingard and Stevens would be director & actor in a film like this. It makes me happy to see how far Wingard has come, but I also hope that he goes on to do other things and show why he’s one of the best working filmmakers working today.

As for expectations, it’s humorous how things go in the film from a marketing perspective. This, along with Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, not only share a similar word in their title, but they also released back-to-back and feature a scene where a part of a city becomes frozen. Just something that I found to be ironic.

I do also want to mention how the big climax, once again, features monsters fighting each other in a big city. People are screaming and running away. Buildings are being torn apart. But once again, Kong & Godzilla will be hailed as heroes, even though they either indirectly murdered people or gave people trauma. There’s a sense of disbelief, along with some of the technology used, that it’s hard to imagine that I can ever connect to this world. I know it won’t ever happen, but I want to see a film where there is more accountability for these monsters that are being labeled as heroes. At least Kong has a nice character arc. I am convinced that these films going forward will never give a balance between the monsters. I feel sorry for Godzilla fans that want more of him.

Overall, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire delivers on the goods and that’s about as much as you can ask with these films. The visuals are top notch as the film dives deeper into the monster’s lore. Seeing the monsters interact without dialogue also keeps the film interesting. The film almost falls apart with its excessive dialogue and prolonger buildup to the monster’s team-up; however, its pros make the film entertaining enough to warrant a recommendation.

VERDICT: Pretty Good