Jakarta, Beritasatu.com – Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024), which is currently showing in Indonesian cinemas, comes with stunning monster action, but that’s all that can be said about this film.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is the sequel to Godzilla vs. Kong (2021). Directed by Adam Wingard, this film tells the story of two giants, Godzilla and King Kong– as the title suggests– who team up to fight the giant ape creature Skar King and the giant ice reptile Shimo.
As expected, the film tries to keep the audience in suspense with non-stop fighting. Battle scenes come in striking colors, such as Godzilla being pink, while Shimo’s ice attacks are ice blue. Visually, it brings the audience to a sensation like playing a video game.
While watching titans fight is fun, the action scenes may be the only thing audiences will remember once they return home. Monster fights can be messy, especially the final Godzilla-Kong versus Skar King-Shimo fight. Due to the flash of light, the viewer may wonder what is going on here? Who attacked whom?
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024). – (Warner Bros. Pictures/-)
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire unfortunately fails to explore the emotions of its human characters. This is what differentiates and could be said to be the most obvious shortcoming of the fourth film in the Monsterverse. This film seems too centered on monster battles.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, which is 115 minutes long, actually features human characters who have their own plot. For example, the relationship between Dr Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall) and her foster daughter and Iwi native, Jia (Kaylee Hottle). There’s also the Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry) conspiracy theory, although his jokes are only mildly amusing.
Unfortunately, the minor characters in the film seem too minor and only serve as additional spice. This film tries to explore the mother and daughter relationship between Ilene and Jia, but there are no scenes or dialogues that really touch the audience’s hearts. In contrast, Kong’s interactions with Suko (the little monkey monster character) give the audience a dose of heartwarming scenes, even though they have no dialogue in human language (only animal movements and expressions).
Overall, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is full of action, but the lack of dialogue between memorable human characters makes this film less enjoyable from a narrative perspective.