The Supremely Unsurprising Ending of ‘Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire has been clowning around in theaters for a couple of weeks now, and is currently the second highest-grossing movie of 2024 so far (the top spot goes to Dune: Part Two). The film is also a loud, bombastic reminder that Godzilla Minus One is the exception, not the status quo.

Indeed, despite The New Empire‘s confidence in its identity and the confidence of Legendary’s MonsterVerse at large, the film currently holds a 54 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. GxK has been met with no shortage of comparisons to Yamazaki’s masterpiece, even though comparing the two films isn’t dissimilar to comparing Oreos to a rotisserie chicken. The New Empire is, after all, a movie about giant monster fights that has no interest in nor responsibility to be judged by any other parameters.

So, how does the movie about giant monster fights wrap up?

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire ending explained

Well, the movie about giant monsters fighting mostly ends with (you guessed it) a giant monster fight, specifically Godzilla and Kong vs. Skar King and Shimo. The four of them roll up to Rio de Janeiro before proceeding to punch and bite each other a whole awful lot. The tides turn when Suko, Kong’s new pint-sized ally, brings the great ape his axe from Hollow Earth. Kong uses the axe to destroy the crystal on the tip of Skar King’s whip, freeing Shimo from the tyrant’s control. The three of them then proceed to gang up on Skar King and emerge victorious. After the battle, Kong returns to Hollow Earth atop Shimo’s back as the new leader of the ape tribe, and Godzilla takes a nap in the Roman Colosseum.

Oh, and there’s some inconsequential stuff with the human characters, too. Jia (Kaylee Hottle) chooses to stay with her adopted mother Ilene (Rebecca Hall) instead of her ancestral Iwi Queen (Fala Chen). I wouldn’t worry too much about that, though. The New Empire‘s attempts at human arcs and development has no real place in the film’s raison d’être, and it shows quite severely.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is now playing in theaters.

(featured image: Warner Bros. Pictures)