So it is. Offensive. Why it’s okay for an adventure with Godzilla and King Kong to not take itself seriously. It’s entertainment, it’s pop and it’s disposable. The problem is not taking your audience seriously, enforcing the law of least effort. Treating the audience as incapable is a reflection of an entire assembly line dedicated solely to manufacturing a product, with absolutely no creative vocation, concerned solely with guaranteeing bonuses for executives.
The situation gets even worse because “The New Empire” arrives in theaters under the shadow of “Godzilla Minus One”, a Japanese production that recovered the greatness of one of its greatest pop symbols, conquering the world by remembering why we should fear the monster. The impression is that Toho, owner of the kaijuthey only licensed the character to show that no one but them knows how to do it right.
Truth be told, this Western “monstroverse” had until then maintained a certain respect for creatures. “Godzilla”, which Gareth Edwards directed in 2014, brought a cool balance between austerity and spectacle, it was pop cinema with style and substance. “Kong: Skull Island,” made by Jordan Vogt-Roberts in 2017, injected a sense of adventure into exotic lands that expanded the brand’s scope.
In “Godzilla and Kong: The New Empire,” style, substance, adventure and any traces of intelligent life disappear. It’s okay that “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” (2019) was already tripping over its own ambition. “Godzilla vs. Kong” itself, which Adam Wingard made in 2021, brought a new flavor with the first round of creatures that disguised the boredom of a bad plot. But the level didn’t need to drop so low.
“The New Empire” follows the previous adventure, with Godzilla sailing the seas and defending humanity from the threat of other “titans” — the kaiju of evil —, while Kong seeks a peaceful existence in the Hollow Earth, a world within ours, inhabited by fantastic creatures. While the lizard dismantles opponents (and entire cities), and then makes a noise inside the Coliseum (it’s serious), the gorilla feeds the melancholy of his loneliness — and suffers from a toothache (it’s serious).
