Story
Peace has been restored. Kong now lives in Hollow Earth, a magnificent but largely uncharted subterranean ecosystem, and Godzilla roams Earth. But then strange seismic activity begins emanating from Hollow Earth.
Kong makes his way back to the surface in need of medical attention, and Dr Ilene Andrews is worried that his presence above ground will summon Godzilla. When Jia, Dr Andrews’s adopted daughter and only surviving member of the Iwi tribe, begins receiving telepathic SOS signals that mimic the seismic activity, the scientists organise a team to investigate events in the subterranean realm.
Almost immediately, the team discovers a destroyed outpost and soon learns that neither Jia nor Kong are the last of their kind. An ancient Iwi community immediately recognises Jia as the promised one who’s destined to save Kong and their world along with him. A long time ago, an evil gorilla king, similar to Kong, was imprisoned in the remote fiery regions of Hollow Earth. This ‘Scar King’ turned a band of gorillas and primates into his personal slaves and henchmen. He also imprisoned a Godzilla-like creature that can shoot ice out of its mouth. He kept the creature locked away and immobilised, bringing it out only to create terror in his subordinates.
When Kong stumbles upon this band of apes, he’s nearly killed. An unlikely friend helps him find his way to Jia, who has been tasked with awakening an ancient creature and asking an impossible task. Will Godzilla come to Kong’s aid or will the pair fight to the death, paving the way for the Scar King to rule both realms?
Themes
Loneliness; loss of family and identity; cruelty; death; subjugation; vengeance
Violence
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire has some violence. For example:
- Savage prehistoric carnivores chase Kong through Hollow Earth, attempting to sink their teeth into him. They corner him on a clifftop, and the leader is about to pounce on Kong when he triggers a landslide that crushes a bunch of the animals. Kong lifts the leader above his head and tears his body in half. Green guts and slime pour over Kong like a shower.
- Kong rips the leg off a creature he has killed and begins to eat it. Another animal steals part of the carcass.
- Godzilla beats and crushes an alien-like monster that’s attacking Rome. As the creatures battle each other, there’s a lot of damage to landmarks and buildings, and people run for their lives in terror. Godzilla blasts the creature with a powerful charge and it explodes, shooting yellow goo everywhere.
- Kong is shot with numerous sedatives, and then his tooth is ripped out of his mouth with a crane.
- The reactors are on fire at a nuclear facility. Godzilla absorbs the radiation as if he’s powering up for a huge battle. Men shoot at Godzilla, and numerous explosions hit his chest. These are followed by a massive, powerful explosion from Godzilla.
- A portion of a dead body lies in the debris of an attacked outpost. It looks like a severed leg.
- There is a gigantic, bloody handprint on a cliff face above the outpost.
- An evil group of apes bash, smash and try to kill Kong.
- Kong defends himself from a group of attacking gorillas. He beats, hits and throws a small ape at the others. Kong throws one gorilla over a cliff but saves his life at the last minute. The gorilla then tries to stab Kong.
- A small ape throws a rock at Kong.
- A predator snatches a young creature and flies off with it.
- A small ape tries to get Kong killed by luring him into a lake with a gigantic eel with large, razor-like teeth. The eel grabs Kong and tries to drown and strangle him while Kong screams. The ape runs through the forest. Kong throws his knife after the ape, along with the severed head of the eel.
- Kong eats parts of the eel. Bits of the eel’s intestine hang out of his mouth. He throws a piece to the small ape, who begins eating it too.
- Godzilla and a large underwater monster fight each other. A submarine is nearly caught in the middle of the battle. The monster looks like it’s trying to eat Godzilla’s face. Godzilla charges himself, and there’s an explosion. Bits of the monster’s exploded body float up to the surface.
- The severed heads of large apes are shown on sticks.
- One large ape punches another in the head. Kong punches back.
- The Scar King look sinister and has evil, glowing, yellow eyes.
- A small ape is threatened. An ape that tries to protect it is thrown into fiery lava by the Scar King. He then uses the spine of a large creature as a whip with which he beats and attacks Kong. He strangles and cuts Kong as the other apes pound the ground and chant.
- Kong flips over the Scar King, and then the Scar King summons an even more terrifying creature, one with the power to instantly freeze. Kong’s hand and arm are caught in an icy blast before he can escape. An army of apes pursues Kong as he tries to get back to Hollow Earth. They try to stab Kong while he’s injured and fleeing. When Kong is cornered and about to make a last stand against a large group of apes, the small ape pulls a trip wire and the larger apes are crushed by falling rocks.
- People tumble down the steps of the pyramids.
- Trees and plants are frozen as the Scar King travels to Hollow Earth on the back of his enslaved monster.
- Godzilla crushes bridges as he heads towards Kong. Kong tries to explain that he needs help, but Godzilla goes in for the kill. Kong fights back, beating Godzilla with his mechanically engineered arm until Godzilla is almost unconscious. Kong then drags Godzilla back towards the portal to Hollow Earth, but Godzilla blasts power out of his mouth. He pins Kong down by stepping on his chest and is about to kill him with a blast when a gigantic moth descends with Jia.
- The Scar King and his army of apes blast through the barrier into Hollow Earth.
- Thousands of gigantic insects attack the gorilla army.
- A giant moth shoots webs at the gorillas, leaving them incapacitated.
- When gravity momentarily disappears, the apes leap from rock to rock, bashing each other and attacking at every turn.
- The Scar King finds his way to Earth and terrifies the people of Brazil. Kong and Godzilla follow. There is an epic battle before the Scar King is frozen by his own ice monster and smashed to pieces by Godzilla.
Sexual references
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire has some sexual references. For example:
- A character mentions that Kong could be looking for a date and that he might need to consider some ‘interspecies romance’.
- There’s a reference to ‘mating season’.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
There’s no use of substances in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
Nudity and sexual activity
There’s no nudity and sexual activity in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
Product placement
There’s no product placement in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
Coarse language
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire has some coarse language.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is a science fiction action adventure and the fifth in the Warner Bros Monsterverse series. The movie features some strong female role models, including the lead scientist and young Jia. There are a couple of scenes with flashing lights, especially during the journeys to and from Hollow Earth. This might be problematic for people with photosensitivity. Also, the cinematography during some of the flight and chase scenes can be momentarily nauseating.
These are the main messages from Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire:
- Love and kindness are more powerful than hatred and fear.
- Everyone belongs somewhere.
- Your family might be the people who love you for who you are and who care for you no matter, rather than the people you’re related to.
Values in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire that you could reinforce with your children include teamwork, compassion, empathy, helpfulness and courage.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire could also give you the chance to talk with your children about the real-life consequences of things like:
- keeping things to yourself that you should share with others
- treating others with cruelty instead of kindness
- being overwhelmed by fear
- believing that you know someone better than they know themselves.