Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Review Roundup--Here's What The Critics Think

Legendary's Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire arrives in theaters on March 29, and reviews for the monster brawl film have begun to appear online. We're rounding up review excerpts below to help you get an idea for if the film is worth your time and money.

GameSpot gave the film an 8/10 in our review. Reviewer Phil Owen wrote, "Godzilla x Kong is instead just a sleek and very well made action movie with a coherent story that wraps itself up well before you'll get the chance to be tired of it, and yet never feels like it had half its plot removed the way most Marvel movies do in recent years."

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is directed by Adam Wingard, who had directed the previous installment Godzilla vs Kong. The film stars Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens, Kaylee Hottle, Alex Ferns, Fala Chen, and Rachel House.

You can see a sampling of review scores and excerpts below and more critical consensus here at GameSpot's sister site Metacritic.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

• Directed by: Adam Wingard
• Written by: Terry Rossio, Simon Barrett, Jeremy Slater
• Starring: Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens, Kaylee Hottle, Alex Ferns, Fala Chen, Rachel House
• Release Date: March 29

GameSpot -- 8/10

"Just as it was last time with Godzilla vs. Kong, director Adam Wingard has delivered a rather lore-heavy movie with a running time under two hours, which is pretty unusual in the current landscape of blockbusters that frequently last more than 150 minutes, like the recent Dune Part Two. Wingard seems to have a knack for streamlining his movies down to their essential story beats while still keeping them coherent." -- Phil Owen [Full review]

RogerEbert.com -- 2.5/5

"If you love the 'what the hell, let's try it' sensibility that the Legendary Pictures monster franchise has embraced thus far, you'll still find plenty here to enjoy. But it shouldn't have been necessary to go looking for it." -- Matt Zoller Seitz [Full review]

Variety -- No Score

"The director, Adam Wingard (who made Godzilla vs. Kong), knows how to choreograph a beastie battle so that it does maximum damage in a way that appeals to your inner toy-smashing seven-year-old. In an early sequence where Godzilla ravages Rome (before curling up and going to sleep in the Colosseum), I actually winced at the image of all those gorgeous old buildings--all that history-- reduced to rubble." -- Owen Gleiberman [Full review]

Chicago Sun-Times -- 2/4

"Godzilla x King Kong: The New Empire is the definition of an old-fashioned (with new technology) popcorn movie and there's certainly no harm in that, but at the end of the day, it feels like the stakes have never been more medium." -- Richard Roeper [Full review]

Washington Post -- No Score

"Wingard’s not a sentimentalist, and Godzilla x Kong stumbles whenever he tries to slap phony emotions onto the film to make it more like a generic crowd-pleaser." -- Amy Nicholson [Full review]

IGN -- 6/10

"Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire serves up a berserk dreamscape with plenty of payoff to please the Monsterverse faithful. Shame about the human stuff, though." -- D. Hood [Full review]

The Hollywood Reporter -- No Score

"Director Adam Wingard (reuniting with Stevens after the terrific 2014 thriller The Guest) orchestrates the monster madness with impressive visual flair even if he relies on an excessive number of ‘80s-era pop song needle drops to make things seem more exciting than they actually are." -- Frank Scheck [Full review]