When the MonsterVerse rebooted the Godzilla franchise for US audience members, fans were eager to see how the giant lizard would be brought to life. They craved personality, but also spectacle, given the advancements in CGI. Once rumblings emerged that other Titans like Kong and such would follow in the new universe, the anticipation heightened.
This did place pressure on filmmaker Gareth Edwards, and unfortunately, he made one noticeable mistake with his 2014 movie. This one storytelling mistake is also an issue the subsequent MonsterVerse films struggled to shake. Fortunately, Legendary Pictures finally dusted off that cobweb, and has gotten things right in Adam Wingard’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
The MonsterVerse Movies Focused Too Much on Human Characters
Godzilla x Kong Star Addresses the ‘Sexual Tension’ Between the Titular Titans
One Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire star speaks about sexual tension between Godzilla and Kong.
The biggest issue with the previous MonsterVerse movies was how it focused too much on the human characters and less on the Titans themselves.Godzilla, for example, focused on the Brody family, which took screentime away from the titular character. There was also a lot of time devoted to characters that didn’t have much to do with the plot. Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Ford getting back to his wife and child, along with trying to stop Godzilla and the MUTOs, should have been the focus, not his parents. Their nuclear reactor arc in particular could have been shortened without removing the substance of the movie. Fans lashed out at that as Godzilla only really appeared in the end.
2017’s Kong: Skull Island rectified the Godzilla issue a bit by letting the behemoth ape fight more monsters on his home island. Still, there was a lot to unpack with the military trying to invade. More specifically, Kong focused too much on the human characters as the creators of the ORCA device that terrorists were using to summon Titans to destroy the planet. The entire arc with the cult being nihilistic made no sense, especially as Emma was endangering her family. Considering her son died in a kaiju attack, she shouldn’t have even been on the Titans’ side.
It felt as if director Michael Dougherty was using the humans for shock value, when these Titans rising up on their own to show Godzilla who was the alpha was is own natural development. Last but not least, 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong brought Emma’s daughter, Madison, back and gave her a sleuth team to expose Apex and Mechagodzilla. Once more, they took up a lot of screen time, when Godzilla and Kong could have just feuded for dominion, and then be attacked by the robot.
The recurring pattern with the early MonsterVerse movies made the franchise seem like it was more about the humans than the Titans. This detracted from the plot and took away momentum at critical junctures. The pacing was harmed, which felt like the scripts were counterintuitive to what fans wanted: more fights, less exposition, and to see primal beasts making their own decisions. It’s something Monarch: Legacy of Monsters started fine-tuning late in 2023, which helped fans understand more of the Titans’ mindsets.
Godzilla x Kong Made the Human Arcs Feel More Organic
Does Godzilla x Kong Have a Post-Credits Scene?
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is roaring into theaters, making some fans wonder if they need to stick around to watch a post-credits scene.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is the film that best course-corrects the issue with the human arcs in the MonsterVerse. There is no conflated story and the human characters matter in a way that feels organic to the plot. This streamlined narrative still enables Jia to establish more of her special bond with Kong. Her Iwi heritage also allows her to be part of Mothra’s rebirth. It even nods to the Toho era and cleverly melds the Iwi and Titans as one big ecosystem.
The Monarch operatives take a backseat, just acting as filler and support when need be. While Jia does the communicating, Dr. Ilene Andrews monitors and scouts. Trapper is a veterinarian who tends to Kong and helps Kong get his gauntlet. Bernie is there just for comic relief and commentary on the Hollow Earth and fights. Notably, they don’t drive the plot as much. They are spectators with Jia being the avatar and connective tissue, a la the Mothra twins known as the Shobijin.
It was a smart move to let the conspiracies, terrorist cells, and Monarch’s sinister arc take a backseat for the Titans to shine. In the process, Jia’s crew does feel more important in their time, which shapes them as proper allies. They may be ancillary, but they count for a lot in their fleeting moments. This is why, as Mothra, Kong and Godzilla tower over them, the Titans can appreciate what mankind is meant to be in these stories: allies who just pop in and out at the right time.
Godzilla x Kong Lets The Titans Run The Show
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’s Ending, Explained
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire unleashes a violent, action-packed ending that teases big shifts in the status quo of the MonsterVerse.
With the Titans front and center, they drive most of the plot. Suko, for example, spends a lot of time hunting with Kong and learning from him. This is why he wants Kong to free his ape tribe from the Skar King. He becomes more selfless and heroic from the bigger ape. Kong, conversely, hates the oppression and slavery he is seeing. The apes have more screentime, with their grunts, facial expressions, reactions and body movements conveying all the important information. Look no further than the Skar King shrugging and laughing at Kong, or screaming as he uses a glowing spike to mind-control Shimo, the ice Titan.
Godzilla also gets enough time to show he can be a careless, stubborn Titan. His arrogance is ever-present, as he thinks he is an untouchable king as he goes around killing other Titans. Furthermore, the apex predator doesn’t bother to listen to Kong when the ape comes up for help. The alpha lizard fights Kong, which ends with Mothra flying in and smacking sense into Godzilla. She is their caretaker and wants them to become a family — something that happens with Kong and Suko in a huge way. By focusing less on the human factor, all of these arcs get to breathe. There is humor, suspense, drama, gravity and nuance in the interactions. More than anything, there is character. Granted, it is helped by the fact that the MonsterVerse has slowly laid down building blocks for a decade.
This formula could have been used from the start because audiences understand what these animals are. There isn’t that dire need for layers and dimensions to them. This is why fans enjoyed Rodan and King Ghidorah in their brief scenes. Audiences know the power of these beasts and what they can do after being in pop culture for decades. It is also why Dr. Serizawa’s “Let them fight!” line stands out from Godzilla. Fans want to see these Titans brawl. That’s not to say the human element has to be completely cut. But the human factor must be tempered, or the studio ends up with the same problem the Transformers movies had: the stars of the property getting sidelined by unnecessary stories.
The lesson has been learned with Godzilla x Kong, and it works to create a tighter and cohesive narrative. The MonsterVerse leaves just enough seeds to keep Monarch interesting moving forward, and for fans to keep wanting more of the mystique, motivations and ambitions of all the Titans. If anything, the MonsterVerse is more menacing, engaging and intriguing than ever. It’s all due to how the Titans are being made the stars of the show, just as nature intended them to be.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is now playing in theaters.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
Get ready to witness the ultimate brawl as Godzilla and Kong collide once more in a battle for supremacy in “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.” This explosive sequel throws open the doors to the Hollow Earth, unleashing an ancient threat that challenges the very existence of both Titans and humanity.
- Director
- Adam Wingard
- Release Date
- March 29, 2024
- Cast
- Dan Stevens , Rebecca Hall , Brian Tyree Henry , Rachel House
- Writers
- Terry Rossio , Simon Barrett , Jeremy Slater
- Main Genre
- Action
- Production Company
- Legendary Entertainment, Screen Queensland, Warner Bros.
