GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE (2024) (WBDHE Blu-ray Review)

GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE (2024) 

Blu-ray + Digital 

Label: WBDHE

Region: Region-Free 

Rating: PG-13

Duration: 104 Minutes 40 Seconds 

Audio: Dolby Atmos (TrueHD 7.1) with Optional English Subtitles 

Video: 1080p HD WIdescreen (2.39:1) 

Director: Adam Wingard

Cast: Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens, Kaylee Hottle, Alex Ferns, Fala Chen

Here we go again, once more into the kaiju battle-tastic world of the Monsterverse, now for the fifth time with Godzilla v Kong: The New Empire (2024) which picks-up three years after the events of Godzilla vs. Kong (2021). In that time Kong been living in Hollow Earth searching for more of his kind and reigning over the creatures there, while Godzilla is on the Earth's surface, and we catch up to him as he is battling the Titan Scylla in Rome, defeating him and then holing-up inside of the the Colosseum like a dog curled-up in a dog bed, awwww, so cute. 

The main human cast here are once again Monarch's resident Kong expert Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall, Tales from the Loop) and her adopted daughter Jia (Kaylee Hottle), who is a deaf orphan, and was the sole survivor of the Iwi natives who we previously saw in Kong: Skull Island, and who has a connection with Kongas well as truth-seeker podcaster Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry, Joker), plus new addition, a Titan veterinarian Trapper (Dan Stevens, FX's Legion). 

The main story thrust this time around is an unidentified signal emanating from Hollow Earth, which triggers Godzilla to start seeking out and killing Titans and absorbing their radiation, seemingly powering-up for some future confrontation. Meanwhile down in Hollow Earth Kong discovers an uncharted area previously unexplored where a tribe of his species have survived under the rule of the brutal Skar King who has enslaved them. Kong befriends a juvenile member of the clan named Suko, despite the fact that it tries to get Kong killed several times. 

The human characters end-up travelling to Hollow Earth to find the source of the mysterious signal, along the way discovering a previously unknown offshoot of the Iwi tribe, while Kong travels to the surface in an attempt to lure Godzilla down to Hollow Earth to help him defeat the tyrannical Skar King who has his own secret weapon, the ancient Titan Shimo who has deadly frostbite-breath! I like the design of the Skar King and his signature weapon, it looks cool, even if I think the way that he controls it with a dang crystal was pretty stupid. 

This latest entry certainly delivers the Kaiju action, the flick opens with both Kong and Godzilla decimating foes, throughout the flick we have Godzilla tearing-up Titans, including Tiamat, to power-up for the the final battle, and Kong and Godzilla go at it in Cairo decimating the pyramids in the process, and the final boss battle in Hollow Earth is quite a satisfying spectacle. 

The human elements are just as ridiculous as the last entry, the dialogue is totally awful, but I do love the addition of the always charismatic Dan Stevens as the Titan veterinarian, who is introduced in a scene replacing one of Kong's canine teeth, and later when Kong gets his arm and hand mangled in a battle witht he Skar King he outfits him with a military grade Power Glove, totally nuts but in the context of this ridiculously action-packed kaiju flick I thought it was pretty cool! I also appreciated the slimmed down human cast of characters, we basically get four humans to track and that's fine, give me more Titan action and less human stuff, that's what we all want from the Monsterverse. As a side note, if I want human a kaiju flick with heart and human drama I will re-watch Godzilla: Minus One again, which is currently streaming on Netflix with no U.S. physical media release yet announced. I absolutely loved G:MO by the way, that's a flick that brings the dread and menace of the original Godzilla movie back big-time, and while the first Monsterverse Godzilla film certainly did that to a degree the franchise has long since gone another way, and that's fine, because I have room for both, and when it's the Monsterverse I'm just here for the bonkers kaiju destruction, and to that end this entry delivers big-time. 

Audio/Video: Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024) arrives on Blu-ray from WBDHE in 1080p HD widescreen (2.39:1) looking stellar on the HD format. Colors are bold and quite vivid, and the depth and clarity of the CGI-heavy kaiju flick look terrific, and the black levels are rock solid. Fine detail excels, the monster designs of  Godzilla and Kong look quite nice with plenty of fine detail inthe close-ups of their textures skins and facial features and in the the varying designs of cityscapes, jungles and the Egyptian pyramids. 

Audio comes by way of a robust Dolby Atmos (True HD 7.1) track that is crushing, during the battle scenes the sounds of collapsing building and giant-sized destruction gives your whole surround system a cacophonous workout. 

The disc is chock full of extras, nearly two hours worth of featurettes examining the VFX, creature designs, various set designs, and some fun looks at the inspirations for the visual style and character explorations. The single disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork. Inside there's a redemption code for a digital copy of the film. The initial run arrives with a slipcover featuring the same artwork. 

Special Features: 
- GxK: Day of Reckoning (5:58) 
- Evolution of the Titans: Godzilla Evolved (5:33) 
- Evolution of the Titans: From Lonely God to King (5:44) 
- Into the Hollow Earth: Visualizing Hollow Earth (5:46) 
- Into the Hollow Earth: Monsters of Hollow Earth (5:40) 
- The Battles Royale: A Titanic Fight Among the Pyramids (5:30)
- The Battles Royale: The Zero Gravity Battle (5:03) 
- The Battles Royale: The Titans Trash Rio (5:22) 
- The Intrepid Director: Adam Wingard: Big Kid (3:43) 
- The Intrepid Director: Adam Wingard: Set Tour (3:44) 
- The Imagination Department (3:47) 
- The Monarch Island Base: Portal to Another World (5:32) 
- The Evolution of Jia: From Orphan to Warrior (5:58) 
- Bernie’s World: Behind the Triple Locked Door (3:28) 
- Audio Commentary by Director Adam Wingard, Visual Effects Supervisor Alessandro Ongaro, Production Designer Tom Hammock and Editor Josh Schaeffer

- Digital Copy 

- Slipcover 

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