Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire told from the monsters ...

Updated

Mar 28, 2024, 12:59 PM

Published

Mar 28, 2024, 12:30 PM

LOS ANGELES – This is a big year for Godzilla.

The billion-dollar monster-movie franchise, which began with the 1954 Japanese film Godzilla, will turn 70 in October.

Its 37th film – the Japanese-language Godzilla Minus One (2023) – just won Best Visual Effects at the Oscars earlier in March.

And movie No. 38 – the newest Hollywood addition to the franchise – will see the fictional creature team up with another famous giant monster: the ape-like beast known as Kong.

Now showing in Singapore cinemas, Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire is a sequel to 2021’s Godzilla Vs Kong, which saw the two titans clash.

But this time, the two unite in an epic battle against an even bigger threat to themselves as well as humanity.

Godzilla Vs Kong director Adam Wingard and cast members Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry and Kaylee Hottle all return for the new film.

Hall reprises her role as a scientist who is an expert on Kong; Hottle is her daughter; and Henry, a monster fanboy and conspiracy theorist.

They were joined by new castmate Dan Stevens, who plays a veterinarian studying these giant creatures, at the Los Angeles premiere earlier this week.

Wingard describes Godzilla X Kong, which cost US$135 million (S$182 million) to produce, as “a crazy monster movie” and a labour of love.

“I can’t believe we’re here. It takes so long to make these movies,” says the 41-year-old American director, who started filming in 2022.

And while most Godzilla stories are told from a human point of view, Wingard took a fresh approach.

“In a film like this, it’s guaranteed that there are going to be big monster battles, and that’s always so fun to choreograph as a film-maker.

“But I also wanted to do a movie that was told from the monsters’ perspective in these kinds of non-verbally-driven, very visual sequences.

“I don’t think anybody’s really done a monster movie like this. There have been hundreds of monster films made over the years and no one’s really allowed them to sort of tell their story,” he says.

Wingard got his start making low-budget horror flicks such as You’re Next (2011) and Blair Witch (2016), but he managed to bring some of those same storytelling instincts to Godzilla X Kong.

So says Stevens, who played a troubled army veteran in Wingard’s thriller The Guest (2014) and has been friends with the director ever since.

With this sequel, Wingard had preserved the spirit of indie film-making on a massive scale, says the 41-year-old English actor best known for his stint on the English period drama Downton Abbey (2010 to 2015).

“The highlight for me was getting to work with him on something of this scale and see how much fun he’s still having as a film-maker – given that we worked together for the first time almost 10 years ago on something a lot smaller.”

Stevens, who also starred in the superhero series Legion (2017 to 2019), adds: “He wants to make things that are enjoyable. And he’s steeped in movie lore and is just such an enthusiast.”

Both actor and director think Godzilla X Kong should be seen on the big screen to fully enjoy it.

“You want to see a movie like this on a massive scale and get the big sound,” Stevens says.

“We shot a good portion of this film for the Imax screen,” Wingard adds.

And story-wise, it is not just the two monsters who have to work together. “It’s more about the teamwork in this one,” says Henry, 41.

“Because there are bigger threats and bigger things we discover, and people have to figure out where their alliances lie,” says the American actor, who starred in the superhero film Eternals (2021) and action comedy Bullet Train (2022).

“That is the overall story of Godzilla X Kong: It’s about being a team rather than fighting one another separately, so it’s really about being a family.”