Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire plays like a Jun Fukuda Kong movie that happens to guest star Godzilla (in roughly the capacity that
Godzilla vs Megalon did
). If the clashing tones and wildly all over the place bits of lore/creature origins that feel at odds with one another all in the same movie (think,
Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla having both aliens bringing their mech down from space AND an ancient dog/lion monster needing to be summoned via magic and song) is something that appeals to you, then GxK definitely hits that sweet spot. Now mind you, I say that endearingly. The movie's kind of a clunky mess and it's all over the place with really wonky pacing and a structure that doesn't quite work (I think Godzilla's awkward placement in the story is a big part of what contributes to that overall feeling), but it really does have the zany energy of a 60s/70s Fukuda Godzilla movie in a way that none of the other ones really did (KotM and GvK felt like they were more so trying to emulate the earlier Honda entries to me). Kong's the real main character of the movie here, more so than Godzilla or any of the humans, and pretty significant chunks of the film are spent with him just doing his thing. If this sounds like something that'll appeal to you and you already like the MonsterVerse, then despite the movie's clunkiness, you'll probably have a fun time here. If what I wrote sounds absolutely dire and makes your brain ooze out of your eyes just going over my paragraph, then steer clear 'cause the movie will absolutely make you feel that way as well. I'm not one to usually really throw around a "this one's for the fans" label with movies (usually when people are saying that, it's a way of trying to compensate for what's overall a bad movie in general - which very well might just be what I'm doing here, so guilty as charged!), but, this really does feel like it was made for a very specific type of Godzilla fan that's really into the Showa era but, dialing in even more specifically, the 60s/70s entries in particular. I happen to be very into those entries, and that affection carried over into GxK for me.
Also, I don't know if Skar King was mo-capped or more traditionally animated, but all the credit in the world to whoever was responsible for his posture and body language.