Overview: The epic battle continues! The 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, while uncovering the mythic battle that helped forge these extraordinary beings and tied them to humankind forever.

4K UHD Blu-ray Verdict: Warner Bros. Entertainment/Studio Distribution Services is expanding their 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray catalog offerings this month with the release of the highly-anticipated Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire in the expansive 4K Ultra HD video format this June 11th, 2024.

For my money, this Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire [4K UHD Blu-ray + Digital] combo pack sharpness takes a fairly large step forward from others in their 4K Ultra HD catalog and even comes with HDR (High Dynamic Range) for the complete 4K Ultra HD experience, of course.

So, what we have is Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire presented to us as a two-disc combo pack with a sheet for a Digital HD Copy. Other stand out points you should know are: Codec: HEVC / H.265 (72.90 Mbps), Resolution: Native 4K (2160p), HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10, Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 and Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1.

Featuring Dolby Vision and HDR10 for brighter, deeper, and way more lifelike colors, as with most all 4K UHDs, everything that we watch features these qualities - but somehow, this film gloriously shines within them all.

Noticeably crisp with the overall clarity receiving an obvious boost here on this release, what is more is that it is enjoyably noticeable. For as well as some new nuances to the somewhat drab palette courtesy of Dolby Vision, we also get to witness sudden bright pops of color, which makes the eyes draw in, for sure.

As for the audio, well we get: English: Dolby Atmos, English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit), English: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps), French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps), and Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps).

Overall, this is a very strong 4K HDR Blu-ray presentation, and, for the most part, the audio track remains fairly similar to its DTS-HD counterpart; with much of the action occupying the surrounds with outstanding directionality and placement where effects flawlessly pan between the sides and rears.

As for the story to hand, well, taking place after the events of Godzilla vs Kong, Kong settles into his new home in the Hollow Earth. During his stay, he encounters more of his kind including a small red ape who starts out as hostile, but begins to trust Kong. However, with this discovery comes a new threat: Skar King, a tyrannical leader of apes who controls a titan with ice powers.

Kong must get the help of his rival Godzilla in order to take on Skar King and his weapon. Kong is accompanied by Dr. Irene Andrews and her adoptive daughter Jia who is close to Kong, Bernie Hayes the conspiracy podcaster and newcomer Trapper who helped heal one of Kong’s wounds.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire delivers exactly on what the trailers promised. I have heard that this movie puts the human characters to the side a bit and gives more spotlight to the monsters. While I think the humans got a little more screen time than I thought they would have, this movie definitely focuses on Kong and the civilization of apes he discovers.

This movie is Kong’s story and what I like a lot about this movie is how his scenes are handled with his expressions and actions. The relationship between Kong and Suko is the perfect example. We can see when Suko slowly begins to trust Kong as he shows the young ape kindness just from his eyes. These scenes do a great job with show and do not tell.

This is definitely where Director Adam Wingard’s passion for the source material comes into play. I can tell that Wingard set out to make a movie about the titans rather than the humans dealing with the titans. I really enjoyed the scenes where Kong is traveling through Hollow Earth and discovering the other apes. They are interesting, intense and fun especially the scenes with Kong and Suko.

Skar King might be my favorite villain from the MonsterVerse. He has the most ominous presence I have seen from a villain in a while. Just the way he walks around his army, how he smirks at Kong, the way he controls Shimo and how he uses his awesome weapon makes him such a memorable bad guy. Shimo is pretty fun, but a bit more of a minion than I thought she would be.

Indeed, my only major complaint about this movie is that I really wish Godzilla got a little more screen-time. I understand that this Kong’s movie and that Godzilla is more of a force of nature than a character, but I would have loved to see him either destroying more monsters or spending a little more time fighting alongside Kong.

The action scenes are fantastic. This is a movie that is packed with action from nearly beginning to end. My favorite set piece is one that takes place in Hollow Earth that involves zero gravity. It is one thing to have kaijus battle it out, but it is another to have them fight from rock-to-rock. That whole fight is a joy to watch and it reminds me why I love seeing these kinds of films on the big screen.

Another fight I like is Kong’s first encounter with Suko and two other apes. Yes, it looks a bit goofy, but it is so entertaining to watch Kong use Suko as a weapon to smack the hostile apes. All of the fights are enjoyable to watch because they are shot expertly and they pack a punch.

While I prefer the visual style of Kong: Skull Island and GvK to this, this movie is not without striking images and creative set designs. I love the use of purple in this movie particularly with Godzilla. He looks more powerful than ever. Some of the sets on Hollow Earth look really cool, especially the temple which fits Hollow Earth well. The special effects for the monsters look amazing as they are so expressive and lively, that it gives them more character. Their powers look great and their designs are very impressive.

The scale is interesting here because the monsters are now in a world bigger than Earth making them seem a bit smaller than they are. I love the scene where they return to Earth to remind us their massive size. This is a great looking movie that shows how much fun Adam Wingard had directing this movie between the colorful visuals and the crazy fight scenes. The soundtrack is decent with a nice choice of song at the end and a solid musical score by Tom Holkenborg and Antonio Di lorio.

I think the human story is okay, but not particularly inspired. The cast do a great job, especially Kaylee Hottle as Jia who is wonderful in this movie. Hottle is a deaf actress and she does a fantastic job expressing herself especially with her interactions with Kong and with her adoptive mother. She is the heart and soul to both this and GvK.

Brian Tyree Henry and Dan Stevens look like they are having the time of their lives here and Rebecca Hall gives a very committed performance as Dr. Irene Andrews. The actors are definitely game and they are fun to watch. My problem is that they are kind of just here along with Kong for the ride. Jia is the only character who has a major role in the story.

The tone of the movie is very goofy with plenty humor that mostly landed with me and a lot of scenes that make little sense. There is a scene where one of the humans gets eaten by a plant out of nowhere and it is not brought up again after that scene. This feels like watching a Saturday morning cartoon more than any of the other MonsterVerse films. It works for this film because of all of the MonsterVerse movies, it has the most absurd story.

This is an adventure into a brand new world that comes up with an excuse to bring Kong and Godzilla on the same side. This is a movie that knows what it is and it does not hold back on the cheesy plot and the bombastic action scenes.

I have a lot more to say about Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. However, I would have to get into spoilers at that point so I will just say this. I had a great time with Godzilla x Kong. I got exactly what I wanted from the movie. This movie has some amazing action scenes and goofy moments that make it more enjoyable to watch, but it also has a lot of heart.

This is a movie where I can tell that every person involved in the production had a blast making this movie. Now, I am excited to see what new direction the MonsterVerse will take after this.

Special Features:
GxK: Day of Reckoning
Evolution of the Titans: Godzilla Evolved
Evolution of the Titans: From Lonely God to King
Into the Hollow Earth: Visualizing Hollow Earth
Into the Hollow Earth: Monsters of Hollow Earth
The Battles Royale: A Titanic Fight Among the Pyramids
The Battles Royale: The Zero Gravity Battle
The Battles Royale: The Titans Trash Rio
The Intrepid Director: Adam Wingard: Big Kid
The Intrepid Director: Adam Wingard: Set Tour
The Imagination Department
The Monarch Island Base: Portal to Another World
The Evolution of Jia: From Orphan to Warrior
Bernie’s World: Behind the Triple Locked Door
Commentary by Director Adam Wingard, Visual Effects Supervisor Alessandro Ongaro, Production Designer Tom Hammock and Editor Josh Schaeffer

On May 14th, 2024, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire will be available for early Premium Digital Ownership at home for $24.99 and for 48-hour rental via PVOD for $19.99 SRP on participating digital platforms where you purchase or rent movies, including Amazon Prime Video, AppleTV, Google Play, Fandango at Home, and more.

On June 11th, 2024, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire will be available to own on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD from online and physical retailers. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire will also continue to be available to own in high definition and standard definition from participating digital retailers.