Only a few months before, Godzilla Minus One gained praise and accolades, this fifth film in the MonsterVerse franchise perhaps got less favourable reviews, I knew exactly what I was in for, but I was prepared to see it on the big screen, directed by Adam Wingard (You're Next, The Guest, Blair Witch, Godzilla vs. Kong). Basically, three years after Mechagodzilla was defeated, Kong has settled into his new environment in the Hollow Earth but longs for more of his kind. On Earth's surface, Godzilla continues to fight against "Titans", other giant monsters who threaten humanity. After killing Scylla in Rome, Italy, he rests in the Colosseum. An unidentified signal is picked up by a Monarch observation outpost stationed in the Hollow Earth. On the surface, the signal causes Jia (Kaylee Hottle), the last known survivor of the Iwi tribe from Skull Island, to experience hallucinations and visions. Her adoptive mother, Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall), who communicates with her by sign language, is concerned because she feels she does not belong on Earth. Godzilla also senses the signal, leaves Rome, and attacks a nuclear plant in France to absorb the radiation. Godzilla then heads to the lair of the Titan Tiamat in the Arctic. Monarch believes Godzilla is strengthening himself for an oncoming threat. A sinkhole opens near Kong's home, he discovers a tribe of his species has survived in an uncharted region. He encounters a juvenile named Suko, they have an initial confrontation, but they bond after Suko leads Kong to the tribe's lair. The tribe's tyrannical leader, the Skar King, battles Kong with help from the ancient ice-powered Titan, Shimo, controlled by the Skar King with pain using a crystal. Kong's right arm is injured by frostbite from Shimo's ice breath, but he escapes with help from Suko, although he loses his axe in the process. Led by mercenary Mikael (Alex Ferns), Andrews and Jia, alongside Titan veterinarian Trapper (Dan Stevens) and conspiracy podcaster Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry), travel to the Hollow Earth to locate the source of the signal. They find the Monarch outpost destroyed. After Mikael is killed by a carnivorous tree, the group ventures forward and discovers a temple that leads them to a subterranean section. The group discovers a surviving Iwi tribe, who communicate telepathically with each other. Inspecting some ruins, they deduce that the signal was a telepathic distress call sent by the tribe. While observing Jia socialising with the Iwi, Andrews tells Trapper her fear that Jia may choose to stay with her people and leave her. Andrews uncovers hieroglyphics inside a temple displaying the past and future: the Skar King previously attempted to conquer the surface world and waged war against Godzilla's species, but Godzilla defeated him and trapped him and his tribe deep within the Hollow Earth. A prophecy indicates that Jia is the key to reawakening Mothra, a colossal sentient flighted insect. Kong is found to be injured after he locates the temple, when he is sedated, Trapper equips a prototype exoskeletal arm brace to strengthen and heal his damaged arm. Unbeknownst to them, one of the Skar King's loyalists has followed them and informs the Skar King of what is going on, and he assembles an army to invade Earth. Jia successfully wakes up the reborn Mothra. Godzilla kills Tiamat and absorbs cosmic radiation from her lair, evolving him and turning his dorsal plates magenta. Kong surfaces in Cairo and calls out to Godzilla, hoping to lure him to the Hollow Earth to assist him. Godzilla is angered and attacks him, despite Kong attempting to communicate with him. They have a brief fight before Mothra arrives with Jia and convinces Godzilla to help Kong. Godzilla, Kong and Mothra then head back to Hollow Earth to face the Skar King, Shimo and the army. The fight takes Godzilla, Kong, Shimo and the Skar King to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Skar King forces Shimo to breathe his cold breath and induce another ice age. Both sides are evenly matched until Suko arrives with Kong's axe and the crystal controlling Shimo is destroyed. Shimo and Kong then freeze and shatter the Skar King. Godzilla uses his atomic breath to thaw Shimo's ice age, and he returns to rest in the Colosseum. Jia reunites with Andrews and assures her that she is choosing to stay with her adoptive mother. Mothra restores the barrier protecting the Iwi's home and then leaves. Shimo and Suko return to Hollow Earth, and Kong becomes the new leader of the ape tribe. Also starring Fala Chen as the Iwi Queen, Rachel House as Hampton, Kevin Copeland as Submarine Commander, and Anthony Brandon Wong as Talk Show Anchor. Hall, Stevens, and Henry give reasonable performances, but it is the giant gorilla and the king-sized reptilian that are the stars as they both clash with each other and then work together, along with recognisable movie creature Mothra. It is nothing we haven't seen before, two giant creatures destroying large cities across the world and roaming about in landscapes in parallel universes, but the special effects are well done, and you can just sit back and enjoy the carnage, a silly but not boring science-fiction monster action. Worth watching!
Review of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
