Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire [4K Ultra HD]

Director: Adam Wingard

Cast: Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens

Release Date: June 11, 2024

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 9/10
Disc Rating: 9/10

Synopsis:

The epic battle continues!  Legendary Pictures’ cinematic Monsterverse follows up the explosive showdown of ”Godzilla vs. Kong” with an all-new adventure that pits the almighty Kong and the fearsome Godzilla against a colossal undiscovered threat hidden within our world, challenging their very existence—and our own. “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” delves further into the histories of these Titans and their origins, as well as the mysteries of Skull Island and beyond.

THE MOVIE – REVIEW:

‘Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire’ continues the Monsterverse saga following the events of ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ and rejoins the world at a time of peace between the Titans, with Kong holding his fortress under the earth as Godzilla reigns supreme above the surface. Things seem to be balanced at last until a dangerous new threat is uncovered from deep within our world that could prove deadly to Kong and Godzilla. As Kong readies himself to try and take on this new threat from his realm, Godzilla begins transforming himself for the fight to come, but the world may only stand a chance at success if Kong and Godzilla are able to put aside their instinctive aggression toward each other and work together.

Directed once again by Adam Wingard (Godzilla vs. Kong, The Guest), this time from a screenplay written by Terry Rossio (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl) and Simon Barrett (You’re Next) and Jeremy Slater (TV’s Moon Knight), from a story by Rossio & Wingard & Barrett, Wingard does a magnificent job at the helm of ‘Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire’ guiding along the explosive, stylish and visually spectacular fun with a clear appreciation of the characters. The cast features many new and returning stars from the franchise including Rebecca Hall (The Night House), Brian Tyree Henry (Bullet Train), Dan Stevens (The Guest), Kaylee Hottle (Godzilla vs. Kong), Alex Ferns (The Batman) and Fala Chen (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) who each offer capable performances for the most part in their roles.

‘Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire’ is an absolute blast. A rewarding and ridiculously entertaining culmination of everything positive from the series that delivers exactly what that these big budget monster blockbusters should be. It finds a working balance of the human and Titan storylines that offers some kind of story expansion while still never allowing it to detract from the explosive fun and monster-sized action fans want to see from these films. Delving further into the mythology of the Titans, especially below the surface in order to bring a new villain to the forefront in Skar King who proves to be an appropriately sizable threat for both Kong and Godzilla to tackle, and one that quickly becomes clear is far too deadly for either to handle independently.

Perhaps most notable is the fact that ‘Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire’ actually provides a few openings for our human stars to assist with along the way in addition to expanding some of their storylines in a largely enjoyable manner that actually furthers the story (or at least more than in many previous installments in the series). It should certainly still come as no surprise that the monster battles and the visually spectacular worlds crafted within are the real stars of the show and while many will surely appreciate this one bothering to do something worthwhile with the human characters, those of you that are only interested in the monster-sized showdowns and destruction should still find plenty to love within, including some clever battle sequences such as a zero gravity brawl that’s quite breathtaking to behold.

 

OVERALL:

‘Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire’ delivers a monstrously entertaining and visually spectacular new chapter in the Monsterverse franchise that takes many of the best elements of the saga and once again manages to up the ante when it comes to the action-packed showdowns. ‘Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire’ is definitely highly recommended for anyone that enjoyed any or all of the previous Monsterverse entries which culminate into one wildly enjoyable extravaganza here that is not to be missed. If you’re a fan of the franchise that didn’t have the opportunity to catch this one in theaters but are looking forward to it, then it’s definitely worth your time and the cost of a rental at the very least. Fans of the Monsterverse films overall shouldn’t have any regrets if making a blind purchase either.

VIDEO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire’ features a full 2160p Ultra High Definition presentation with Dolby Vision and HDR-10, presented in its original 2.39:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks marvelous across the board and serves up a clean, smooth and gorgeously detailed presentation throughout that never suffers from any unexpected issues to be uncovered along the way. Detail is magnificent in every department from the human faces and clothing to the monster-stars and the various landscapes and settings on display both below and above the surface. The Dolby Vision HDR only boosts much of the content by contributing more vibrant, deep and lifelike colors that especially stand out with Wingard’s regular use of bright neon colors and plenty more throughout, which is all nicely balanced by deep, rich and problem free black levels. Overall, this is a spectacular Ultra High Definition video presentation that impresses at every turn and should easily excite viewers.

AUDIO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release features a Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 channel compatible) soundtrack. Please note that this review pertains solely to the Dolby TrueHD 7.1 audio presentation. This multichannel soundtrack is a hard hitting treat in its own right that delivers a clean, crisp and notably aggressive soundtrack that dazzles around every turn. It repeatedly takes full advantage of all seven available channels in order to send music, action and destruction effects, along with a whole lot more whipping throughout the various speakers quite regularly, while also offering numerous opportunities for your subwoofer to show of its stuff and shake the floor and walls; all the while never resulting in any dialogue or other audio elements becoming problematic or rendered inaudible in the process. Overall, this is a magnificent Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible) soundtrack that sounds consistently outstanding and shouldn’t disappoint in the slightest.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire’ provides a very nice collection of bonus content that takes you deeper into the making of the latest Monsterverse film including an ‘Audio Commentary with Director Adam Wingard, Visual Effects Supervisor Alessandro Ongaro, Production Designer Tom Hammock and Editor Josh Schaeffer’, along with numerous Behind the Scenes Featurettes that include interviews/comments with the cast and crew, plus behind the scenes footage and more. They include ‘GxK: Day of Reckoning’ (running approximately 6 minutes in length), along with a few multi-part Featurettes including ‘Evolution of the Titans’ which includes ‘Godzilla Evolved’ (running approximately 5 minutes) and ‘Kong’s Journey: From Lonely God to King’ (approximately 6 minutes), ‘Into the Hollow Earth’ which features ‘Visualizing Hollow Earth’ (6 minutes) and ‘Monsters of Hollow Earth’ (5 minutes), ‘The Battles Royale’ which includes ‘A Titanic Fight Among the Pyramids’ (5 minutes), ‘The Zero Gravity Battle’ (5 minutes) and ‘The Titans Trash Rio’ (5 minutes), plus ‘The Intrepid Director: Adam Wingard’ which includes ‘Big Kid (4 minutes) and ‘Set Tour’ (4 minutes). Additional Featurettes include ‘The Imagination Department’ (running approximately 4 minutes), ‘The Monarch Island Base: Portal to Another World’ (5 minutes), ‘The Evolution of Jia: From Orphan to Warrior’ (6 minutes) and ‘Bernie’s World: Behind the Triple-Locked Door’ (3 minutes).

*Please note: The above images were provided by Warner Bros. and are not reflective of the actual 4K Ultra HD release or its quality. A standard Blu-ray copy of the film was not included in the release that could be used for screenshots therefore the above publicity stills were utilized. They are all the property of Warner Bros. Discovery, Legendary and any other respective owners.

–

Film Rating: 9/10
Disc Rating: 9/10

 –

‘Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire’ is Now Available to Own on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD & Digital from Legendary Pictures & Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment

–

You can purchase your copy of the ‘Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire’ on 4K UHD at Amazon HERE!

*Screen-Connections.com is an Amazon Associate that earns from qualifying purchases