Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Reviews Call It an Epic Rumble

Polygon

"I'm going to level with you: Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire might be the stupidest movie I've ever seen. Not the worst movie (that would be Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2), but very possibly the most absurd. I'm ashamed to tell my mother I saw it, for fear of a lecture about how she did not raise a dummy, and did not break her back putting me through school so I could sit through the giant-monkey-and-lizard movie, for money. But unfortunately for her (love you, Mom) she did put me through school to watch the giant-monkey-and-lizard movie, for money. So I did watch the stupid thing. And you know what? I'd do it again." – Polygon

Games Radar​

"The uneasy alliance forged between the kaiju big boys in 2021's Godzilla vs. Kong is tapped again in returning director Adam Wingard's gleeful, eye-saucering smackdown. Godzilla x Kong is loaded with even more colossal beasties, nods to the Showa-era Godzilla films, and a lot of goo. Just don't expect the humans to match the monsters' expressiveness.

Wingard's film picks up after the destruction of Mechagodzilla and Kong's departure to the subterranean Hollow Earth, leaving Godzilla battling city-stomping enemies on the surface. Trouble is, it takes a good hour to explain just how we're going to get to the fur-flying, earth-shaking, atomic-blasting fisticuffs we've come for." – Games Radar

The Hollywood Reporter​

"Director Adam Wingard (reuniting with Stevens after the terrific 2014 thriller The Guest) orchestrates the monster madness with impressive visual flair even if he relies on an excessive number of '80s-era pop song needle drops to make things seem more exciting than they actually are. But if the series is to continue, and there seems little doubt that it will, the human characters are going to have to be treated with the same loving attention as the monsters." – The Hollywood Reporter

Deadline

"There is a twist with the latest offering from the now-decade-old Monsterverse, a franchise that has featured Kong and Godzilla in their own movies and then in 2021's Godzilla vs. Kong battling each other to the death. (These monsters never really die. But you knew that). The twist this time is there an even greater threat for these iconic giant creatures to each other and the world, so instead of being on opposite sides of the ring, they team up against an evil new villain, a batshit-crazy ape on steroids named Skar King, in order to save not just Hollow Earth – where most of the action takes place in a dense rainforest – but just about everyone else." – Deadline

Rolling Stone​

"The default mode for these MonsterVerse entries are Blockbuster Hype 101, yet there's always been a curious sense of detachment about them – the kind of studio-sponsored, brand-name, go-for-broke tentpole offerings that are supposed to feel like event movies yet don't. Coming after those two Godzilla films namechecked above, the lackluster attempt to wring more out of these I.P.s feels even egregious. We're the last folks to slag the joy of sitting in a theater and gaping at creature-feature icons beating the living snot out of each other, but The New Empire is simply popcorn cinema at its stalest. "Let them fight!", a human bystander once said in regards to Godzilla and some skyscraper-sized enemy. In terms of future endeavors regarding these two beloved legacy characters, we beg of you, MonsterVerse curators: Let them be." – Rolling Stone

IGN

"You've gotta respect when a movie knows its audience. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is effectively what would happen if you took a thread from r/Godzilla and put it up on screen: a visually stunning, sensory extravaganza that's all crescendo and no build-up. The stakes are high – though not quite firmly established – and the entire film presents action payoff after action payoff. It's utterly breathless – unless that breath is bellowing out a massive stream of ice or fire. Especially in IMAX, it's a 1 hour and 55-minute amusement park ride; I was oohing and ahhing through the entire thing, wondering what was lurking around the next corner – or, as this outlandish universe would have it, behind the electrified plasma wall. I just couldn't take it too personally when it all didn't quite add up." – IGN

Variety

"Godzilla x Kong, by contrast, is product, though it would be foolish to pretend that the best parts of it don't "deliver." The director, Adam Wingard (who made "Godzilla vs. Kong"), knows how to choreograph a beastie battle so that it does maximum damage in a way that appeals to your inner toy-smashing seven-year-old. In an early sequence where Godzilla ravages Rome (before curling up and going to sleep in the Colosseum), I actually winced at the image of all those gorgeous old buildings – all that history – reduced to rubble. Yet there's a part of me that wishes that Godzilla, and the rest of the movie, would continue to stomp the real world. When these monsters are trashing recognizable cities, their mayhem is relatable, and the spectacle of it literally looks more real. When they square off against a backdrop of the craggy mountains and vistas of the Hollow Earth, you're much more aware of the CGI-ness of it all." – Variety

Collider

"Both Godzilla and Kong are characters that have existed for the better part of a century, with dozens of films under their combined belts. For the most part, these franchises can be broken down into two categories. One is films that attempt to explore deeper issues or themes under the guise of a monster movie, like 1933's King Kong, 1954's Godzilla, or last year's Godzilla Minus One. The other sillier category relies on just watching these gargantuan creatures fight each other for little reason other than that it's sort of fun to watch giants cause massive destruction and get into large-scale brawls." – Collider

Empire Magazine

"It's been 70 years since Godzilla made his first on-screen appearance, and his stock is as high as ever: Godzilla Minus One deservedly won an Oscar for its incredible visual effects back in March; while TV spin-off Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters proved that it is possible to have compelling human characters amid all the clashes of titans. The MonsterVerse, which began with Gareth Edwards' Godzilla in 2014, has gradually become less sombre and more silly with every entry, a trend that continues with returning director Adam Wingard's Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. At its best, it delivers a fun slice of monster mayhem, even if we have to wait too long for the titular duo to charge into battle together." – Empire

The Guardian

"Three years later with normality resuming, there's arguably less audience demand for another instalment, although the industry could definitely do with another monster hit, the strikes leaving the first few months of 2024 a little weakened. There's enough easily marketable simplicity to Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire that it should become a swift global hit (the film is tracking to make $135m worldwide in its opening weekend) but, especially in the shadow of the Oscar-winning Godzilla Minus One, there will be predictably diminishing returns for those who venture out. It's a still fun yet far sloppier outing, a second round that's less of a win for us and more of a draw." – The Guardian