Tag Archives: godzilla

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

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Godzilla and Kong are back together once again with the Monsterverse as a new threat forces the two titans to work together. Yes, the story is a little wonky and lacks any real sense of dread, but there are some epic monster fights, and where else are you going to see Godzilla give King Kong a suplex?

That was a life-affirming moment for me.

The new threat is another giant ape by the name of the Scar King. Scar King has been trying to escape from the bowels of Hollow earth for a long time and, with Godzilla on the surface, Scar King has been having more success. He has marshalled his forces together, including a cold controlling titan that he is using pain to force it to help him (that’s not coming back at the end…sarcasm). Kong realizes that he can not take the new threat on his own and he went back to earth to recruit Godzilla, who has been sensing trouble and has been charging up with some nuclear energy.

The plot of this film is really weak. What this movie had to do to hit its purpose was to have great monster fights, and I already mentioned the suplex, right? The fights were well done and the CGI looked fantastic. Was there some cheesy moments? Sure. Kong gets a bionic arm to help with his injured arm. Luckily this bionic arm was already in Hollow Earth.

However, there was a major problem. I never felt as if Scar King was a danger to any sort of combination of Godzilla and Kong, along with whatever other Titans that might show up (no spoilers). I never believed Scar had any chance of taking them down, even after he did well in his initial fight with Kong.

The humans were kept as a sideshow, as they should have been. The human cast included Rebecca Hall, Dan Stevens, Brian Tyree Henry and Kaylee Hottle. Kaylee Hottle, played the lovely young lady Jia, reprising her role from Godzilla vs. Kong. Hottle had a real presence on screen and she stood out among the human characters. She seemed to fit beautifully in with the grandness of the monsters around her. I was very impressed by this young actress, who apparently is deaf as well.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire was a fun time if you wanted to see giant monsters fighting. Though it is an unfair comparison, this does not match up to Godzilla Minus One at all. That was a much better movie, but this is still fun and a decent popcorn flick.

3.2 stars

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters S1 E5

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Spoilers

“The Way Out”

This week’s Monarch picked up the pace from last week’s episode that, for me, was relatively disappointing. I found this week’s episode considerably better than last week.

After being released by Monarch, Cate, Kentaro and May head to San Francisco to go to Hiroshi Randa’s San Fran office. Unfortunately, it was in the heart of the location of Godzilla’s rampage on G-Day and the government was patrolling the area shooting looters.

Cate was having terrible flashbacks to the days surrounding G-Day and her PTSD was devastating her. We got flashbacks to her life just before, during and after G-Day. These moments helped carve out an explanation of this character that may have been missing up until this point.

She also told her mother the truth about Hiroshi’s other family in Japan, making an awkward situation even more so.

Shaw was kept at Monarch. He mentioned that he had not told the kids anything, making us feel that something else is going on. There was a question raised to why Shaw was not as old looking as he should have. The character maintained a level of mystery, and I love Kurt Russell being it.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters S1 E4

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Spoilers

“Parallels and Interiors”

The week that Godzilla Minus One was released in the theaters, what was, in my opinion, the worst episode of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters was dropped on Apple TV.

The episode focused on the lost crew in Alaska, facing off with an ice Titan that consumes heat/fire. It had a LOST feel with flashbacks back to when Kentaro and May met. It paralleled the dangers that they were facing after May got her legs wet in Alaska as they hid from the Titan.

Some of the scenes out in the snow were laughable. When Kentaro went off in his own direction and started to hallucinate, the show just felt as if it went off the rails.

I did like how Shaw, Kentaro, May and Cate were brought to Monarch at the very end of the episode, so I am hoping that next week’s episode picks things up.

The series’ Titans do look great, as did this undefined one.