This article contains spoilers for “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire”.
By the end of “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” the latest in the so-called Monsterverse franchise from Warner Bros., many cities around the world have become virtually uninhabitable and treasured monuments have turned to dust. Godzilla, Kong and their opponents level parts of Rio, ripping buildings in half during their climactic showdown, as a monster that can shoot ice from its mouth blankets the coastal environment, apparently freezing a bunch of citizens as well.
Earlier, the two big guys walk through the pyramids in Cairo as tourists and locals run away from falling rocks. Additionally, at one point, Godzilla also temporarily resides in the Colosseum in Rome after traversing that location. It’s honestly pretty cute the way he curls up to sleep in the ancient amphitheater like a puppy, but the fact that he probably killed thousands of people getting to his makeshift bed isn’t really addressed.
Directed by Adam Wingard, the film is more concerned with the beasts than anything else. Given the cartoonish tone Wingard is working with – Godzilla turns pink in this one while he and Kong fight a giant evil ape called King Scar with a bone whip – it makes sense not to dwell too much on the human toll. However, the sheer level of destruction is so great it’s almost entertaining. Sure, you go into a Godzilla movie expecting some structures to collapse, but this is just extreme, especially in how casually it glosses over the fact that the monsters have just upended thousands of years of history and countless lives.
Over the years, movies starring Godzilla and his friends have varied wildly in how they treat the creatures’ victims — they’ve been serious and downright silly. While sometimes Godzilla can be a way to explore very human fears, other times it’s just an outlet to watch things unfold. “Godzilla x Kong” puts him firmly in that raunchy camp, which makes the death cure look just plain sloppy.
Perhaps one of the reasons “Godzilla x Kong” is so striking in how little thought it seems to give to damage is that the last “Godzilla” movie to hit theaters was entirely about Godzilla as a representation of trauma.
This latest, Takashi Yamazaki’s “Godzilla Minus One,” a Japanese production that hit North American theaters in December and eventually won a visual effects Oscar, is set in the aftermath of World War II. Godzilla serves as a reminder to the protagonist, Koichi (Ryunosuke Kamiki), of his wartime guilt. It’s an emotionally powerful film, explicitly about the value of human life, where Godzilla is instrumental in the survival stories that Yamazaki wants to highlight.
And yet, it’s not as if every film from Godzilla’s homeland has imbued the monster with gravitas, while all American productions go for spectacle over emotion. In fact, the current Warner Bros. Monsterverse started from a much darker place, where the stakes were much higher. Gareth Edwards’ 2014 Godzilla opens with the shocking death of a character played by Juliette Binoche that defines the dangers of having radioactive giants on the planet.
But as the Monsterverse progressed, the material got sillier, landing us where we are with “Godzilla x Kong.” It’s a motif that also appears in the original series of Japanese Godzilla films. Yes, Ishiro Honda’s 1954 original is a reflection of nuclear anxiety made in the shadow of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But by 1968, Honda made the changes “Destroy All Monsters” where Godzilla and his kaiju friends on an island known as Monsterland are freed by an alien species known as the Kilaaks and attack global hubs such as Moscow and Paris. Sure, you see the Arc de Triomphe being swallowed up, but the charmingly retro effects mean you’re never really forced to think about who might be standing beneath it.
“Godzilla x Kong” has the problem of trying to split the difference between an absolutely ridiculous plot – there’s an ancient telepathic population of natives living in the Hollow Earth who worship Mothra – and realistic special effects. Still, you can’t help but feel a little sad when one of the Wonders of the World gets crushed.
Hollywood blockbusters were held to account for their odd death tolls when Superman and General Zod were overwhelmed. Metropolis in “Man of Steel” (2013) and the Avengers brought down the fictional Sokovia in “Avengers: Age of Ultron” (2015). Their sequels tried to address the recklessness. “Godzilla x Kong” marks a return to pointless mayhem.
“Godzilla x Kong” also has something else in common with the superhero genre: In this movie, Godzilla and Kong are supposed to be the good guys who stop monsters that are more evil than them. If so, why does no one care that they kill so many people in the process? The audience might, but no one on screen gives a damn.