--- title: "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/godzilla-x-kong-the-new-empire/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/godzilla-x-kong-the-new-empire" critics_score: 59 critics_reviews: 14 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024): what the critics said Critics' score 59 from 14 reviews: 6 positive, 5 mixed, 3 negative. Most critics land in the middle, and nearly all of them agree on the shape of the thing: the monster fights are the point, and the humans are in the way. The praise clusters on the brawls themselves, bright and staged across recognisable landmarks, and on Kong, whose story several reviewers find the film tells more clearly through animated eyes and grunts than through any of its dialogue. Several call it goofy and mean it kindly. The complaints are just as consistent: a long, exposition-heavy first hour, thinly drawn people, and a plot that keeps the titans apart for too long. Where they part is on whether the fights are enough. The Wrap and Digital Spy call it the most enjoyable film in the series; Screen Daily and Den of Geek find diminishing returns, with bigger battles landing more softly each time. Slant and Deadline hold it against Godzilla Minus One and find it wanting. The spread is wide, from warm to weary. ## Empire — Amon Warmann Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 28 March 2024. The critic finds the film a fun slice of monster mayhem when the creatures finally collide, praising the bright and inventive fights between the titans. They complain that the human characters are shallow and the story takes too long to reach the main event. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/godzilla-x-kong-the-new-empire/) ## Total Film — Jane Crowther Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 28 March 2024. The critic calls it disposable fun saturated in vivid colour, praising the impressive global fights and nods to classic Godzilla films. They note the long exposition-heavy setup but say the behemoth battles deliver what fans want. [Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/godzilla-x-kong-the-new-empire-review/) ## Radio Times — James Mottram Rating 3/5. 28 March 2024. The critic finds it a bonkers ride that may not eclipse the previous film but delivers insane destruction at global landmarks and fine comic relief from the humans. The Titans run the show with impressive rendering of new creatures like the Skar King. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/godzilla-x-kong-the-new-empire-review/) ## Time Out — Olly Richards Rating 3/5. 28 March 2024. The critic calls it brainless brawn that is pretty entertaining as a showcase for big things hitting each other, though instantly forgettable. The Kong scenes are the best parts with some attempt to tell a story through ape grunts and CG eyes. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/godzilla-x-kong-the-new-empire-2024) ## Slant Magazine — Derek Smith Rating 2/4. 28 March 2024. The critic finds the film dispiriting monster mush that spends too long on pointless world-building and cringe human drama before delivering generic kaiju fights. The action sequences lack the emotional or psychological depth of better entries like Godzilla Minus One. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/godzilla-x-kong-the-new-empire-review/) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Frank Scheck Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 28 March 2024. The critic calls it a so-so franchise entry where dull humans drag down the monster mayhem. Kong gets some emotional moments, but the CGI action feels like video-game spectacle without novelty. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/godzilla-x-kong-the-new-empire-review-1235861210/) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 28 March 2024. The critic sees it as a numbing sequel of diminishing returns where fights grow more gargantuan but results get punier, with very little emotion or inspiration underneath the orgiastic violence. The humans are crudely drawn and mainly provide exposition. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/godzilla-x-kong-the-new-empire-review/5191966.article) ## Vulture Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 28 March 2024. The film fails to deliver strong giant-monster action and instead makes the kaiju disconcertingly cute and merchandisable. Human characters are wasted on exposition and awkward banter while the fights lack scale or impact. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/article/godzilla-x-kong-review-kaiju-dont-need-to-be-cute.html) ## Los Angeles Times — Katie Walsh 28 March 2024. Wingard delivers a hectic, overloaded monster jam with an unusually strong cast of human actors that gets lost amid too many creatures and a harried energy that turns tiresome and deafening. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-03-28/godzilla-x-kong-the-new-empire-review-rebecca-hall-dan-stevens-brian-tyree-henry) ## Sight and Sound — Kim Newman 30 March 2024. The critic describes it as an enjoyably goofy monster mash where human characters work hard to keep the plot moving but the colossal beasts smash through weaker moments. The spectacle fully embraces a toddler-tantrum-on-a-colossal-scale aesthetic and is winning because of its essential goofiness. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/godzilla-x-kong-the-new-empire-an-enjoyably-goofy-monster-mash) ## The Guardian 28 March 2024. The critic finds the monster mash-up has a likable, light-hearted zip but energy dissipates with the humans and script; it delivers child-like satisfaction in the fights but feels sloppier and more forgettable than its predecessor. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/mar/28/godzilla-vs-kong-the-new-empire-review) ## The New York Times — Alissa Wilkinson 28 March 2024. The film feels like a desperate attempt to justify the franchise's existence and continuation, with too many human characters and not enough sense or emotional weight beyond the monster fights. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/28/movies/godzilla-x-kong-the-new-empire-review.html) ## The Telegraph — Robbie Collin 28 March 2024. The critic states it isn’t good and amounts to little more than giant monsters fighting with some trippiness at the end but lacks grandeur, emotional impact or anything beyond the bare minimum promised by the title. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/godzilla-x-kong-the-new-empire-review/) ## Variety — Owen Gleiberman 28 March 2024. The fifth MonsterVerse entry is overly busy boilerplate until its awesome clash-of-the-titans climax, but the real issue is that it gives no compelling reason to care about any of the world-building or characters. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2024/film/reviews/godzilla-x-kong-the-new-empire-review-1235953545/) ## The Wrap Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 28 March 2024. The critic calls it fun, ridiculous and an efficient monster fight delivery system with dense set pieces and creative creatures. They praise the monster action and inner journeys conveyed through CGI, deeming it the best and most entertaining film in the Legendary Monsterverse. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/godzilla-kong-the-new-empire-review/) ## Digital Spy — Ian Sandwell Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 28 March 2024. The critic calls it the most enjoyable MonsterVerse film yet, praising how it finally centres the titans themselves with pared-down storytelling, fun set pieces, and a sense of mischief. The story feels thin at times and lacks emotional depth, but the blockbuster spectacle delivers. [Read the review](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a60292074/godzilla-x-kong-review/) ## /Film — Witney Seibold Rating 7.5/10. 28 March 2024. The critic finds the film big, silly, and undeniably entertaining, more like a Saturday morning cartoon than a serious blockbuster. They single out the visually wild monster mayhem, such as Kong using a miniature ape as a club, for praise while noting the human story feels perfunctory. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/1549687/godzilla-x-kong-the-new-empire-review/) ## Polygon — Joshua Rivera Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 28 March 2024. The critic sees the film as absurd, over-the-top spectacle more like pro wrestling than a conventional movie, with efficient pacing that prioritizes giant monster action over human elements. Kong’s arc and the sheer silly fun of the kaiju battles are singled out as highlights in an entertainingly dumb blockbuster. [Read the review](https://www.polygon.com/reviews/24114548/godzilla-x-kong-the-new-empire-review) ## Deadline — Pete Hammond Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 28 March 2024. The critic describes it as more of the same stomp fest from the Monsterverse, with the Titans teaming up against a new villain in Hollow Earth. They note the Showa-era nostalgia and Mothra cameo but find the human elements caricatured and the film Hollywoodized compared to more impressive entries like Godzilla Minus One. [Read the review](https://deadline.com/2024/03/godzilla-x-kong-the-new-empire-review-the-titans-of-the-monsterverse-join-forces-against-evil-but-it-is-all-still-just-more-of-the-same-stomp-fest-1235870412/) ## Den of Geek — David Crow Rating 2/5. 28 March 2024. The critic calls the film a cartoonish slog for most of its runtime, with boring monsters and a weak script that keeps the titans apart too long. It only livens up in a daffy, over-caffeinated climax that arrives too late to save the movie. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/godzilla-x-kong-the-new-empire-review/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/godzilla-x-kong-the-new-empire.md