“What I find interesting is that we never find out Godzilla's pronouns in this game. We also know that King Kong looks like the King, but we never know what Godzilla is.
So says Brian Tyree Henry, one of the stars Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. In fact, the question of which movie giant is king — or queen — of all was one that viewers and studios were asking even before King Kong vs. Kong was released. Godzilla 1962. That primal battle between the lizard and the ape draws something in all of us, including the cast of the final film in Legendary's MonsterVerse.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, directed by Adam Wingard, is the epic sequel to Godzilla vs. Kong. Kong for 2021, and it doubles down on the sci-fi action as the film sends our heroes back into the world. Hollow earth So they can help Kong and find out why Godzilla is heading towards his new home.
When we recently spoke with the director and crew of the new film, the big question of course came up: Who is the real King of the Monsters? Not surprisingly, they have some very strong opinions.
Who is the king of monsters?
For director Adam Wingard, the answer is simple: “Godzilla is the king of the monsters!”
But this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who's been watching his entries in the Legendary MonsterVerse.
“I've done two films now with Godzilla and Kong. And, you know, I think it's pretty clear where I stand as to who's better,” he says of the director's lifelong stance. “It all stems from the enthusiastic passion I had in the schoolyard when I was A child. I remember there was one of my best friends in second grade or something. I think King Kong vs. Godzilla was on TV the other night and he was talking about… how he thought King Kong, you know, could definitely beat Godzilla in a fight. And I was like… I'm a big Kong guy, but I was a little insulted by that. I mean at the end of the day, Kong is a big ape. “He's like Godzilla… he's a god.”
But some of the actors in Godzilla x Kong are taking a different approach. For them, the new title means that the big boys have already outgrown their previous beef.
“That's why there's an x in between,” says Brian Thierry Henry. “Because like, wait, like, actually…”
“It's a collaboration,” chimes in Dan Stevens.
“It's a collaboration!” Henry laughs. “Oh my God. So I guess at this point, these titles don't mean anything. Yeah, I think… they both realize, like we've destroyed just as much crap as everyone else.”
“Let's just make sneakers,” Stevens adds.
Of course, Kong has one true believer in Kylie Hotel, who plays Jia in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. What do you expect from the talented young actress? After all, she was responsible for playing Kong's companion and interlocutor in the blockbuster series, and she returns in a more important role in the new film.
“I think King Kong is the king of monsters!” Hotel says. “He wants it. He wants to be on top. He has a great heart and acts like a king. He's King Kong!”
The new film sees Kong find other giant apes like him, cementing his place at the top of the heap for Hotel.
“He has his people. “He is king,” says the young actress. “He is the king of the people. He wants to be on top. He has to defeat these enemies to prove who he is. To prove that he is king!”
Godzilla and Kong Cannon
It's not just a matter of assessing who will win the battle, as there's also the question of whose cinematic catalog holds up better. There is no doubt that “Godzilla” outnumbers the great ape films with 38 films compared to 14 films by Kong, and the Japanese giant is also arguably the greatest symbol of popular culture. But saying that, Kong holds a special place in Hollywood history thanks to his legendary 1933 film. When it comes to weighing up the who's strongest catalog, it's unsurprising that Wingard has a lot of ideas.
“I think Godzilla has more good movies,” the director says. “He obviously has more movies. But Kong has good stuff. I actually think Kong 76 is underrated. I really liked King Kong Escapes too; that's the unsung Kong movie of the Showa era. Almost all of the Kong movies, except for Linda Hamilton, very good.
For Wingard, the reason Godzilla ultimately wins the cinematic battle over Kong has all to do with the experimental style and scope of Toho's monster films.
“I don't think any of the Kong movies reach the heights of things like Godzilla vs. Hedorah,” he continues. “For me, it's hard to get over how crazy and weird this movie really is. This is just a great movie.”
If you haven't seen this classic monster movie, it follows the amorphous alien Hedorah who is transported to Earth via a cosmic comet. Once Hedorah reaches our planet, it grows to enormous size thanks to the massive amounts of pollution and smog created by humans. Of course, this eventually leads to Godzilla showing up and trying to stop Hedorah in some of the best and strangest battles in Toho's film series.
While Wingard is very definitive that Godzilla is the king of cinema, his crew had to chop it up a bit more to come to an actual conclusion.
“Hong Kong films tend to have more of a sense of adventure and a desire to go into the unknown, whereas Godzilla is more about destroying cityscapes,” says Stevens.
And Henry points out that he always felt like Kong was more exploitative, right? “It was about people going to him and bothering him and wanting to profit from him.”
Rebecca Hall describes it as “a bit of a colonial story,” and Henry adds, “While Godzilla was like, ‘You're all on my planet!’ That's why I think it's cool that they're teaming up, like we've been exploited, so let's kill everyone!”
This year marks Godzilla's 70th anniversary, and there are more great entries in his book than ever before. With the Oscar winner Godzilla minus onethe legendary and critically acclaimed television series Monarch: Legacy of MonstersAnd of course now Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, the question has to be asked: why are we still talking about Godzilla all these decades later?
“I think Godzilla has been very popular over the years because you can have Godzilla Minus One and the two Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire movies,” Wingard said recently in a press interview. Chat for IMAX“,”[and they] They couldn't be more different in tone from each other. Which I think is the great thing about Godzilla is that metaphorically and tonally, It is versatile In terms of what it can mean and represent in films.
What do you think? Who is the real king of monsters? Let's discuss in the comments!
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