Godzilla x Kong x 1 Corinthians 12

Godzilla is one of my favorite characters because he truly is a monster who contains multitudes. He has various attitudes and personalities depending on which era of Godzilla films you watch. I’ve seen him savagely terrorize cities, as in last year’s Godzilla Minus One, and comically drop-kick a monster in the older, sillier Showa-era films.

Each new movie is a fresh take on the monster. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, the fifth film in the MonsterVerse franchise, continues this trend. Director Adam Wingard embraces the Showa silliness here; many of the monster fights felt like something I would see in a wrestling ring, with a giant-sized suplex even making an appearance. Cinematographer Ben Seresin employs a highly saturated palette—think lots of bright colors—which adds to the fun and outlandish nature. Each environment within Hollow Earth is unique, feeling worthy of the big fights that take place.

The premise of the movie is pretty bare. King Kong and Godzilla remain intentionally separated due to their previous battle in 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong. Kong now resides in Hollow Earth, while Godzilla fights for supremacy against other monsters in the world above. Yet when a threat from the subterranean level endangers all humanity, they must unite to defeat it.

While there are human characters, this movie has one primary focus: monsters versus monsters. Wingard includes every variation of fighting imaginable, from Godzilla going up against Kong to the duo teaming up against various enemies. This toes the line of absurdity not seen in recent Godzilla films, but embodies the campiness of the 1960s and ’70s. It is marvelous to see Kong toss a fastball to Godzilla in the form of the giant, orangutan-like Skar King, the film’s nemesis. Godzilla smacks the Skar King with his tail for at least a triple.

As we know from the previous film, Godzilla and Kong are not friends. They must remain separated to keep the peace. After all, with "God" and "King" in their names, it’s clear they both want to be in charge. There is an irony as both monsters have similar missions, yet because they see each other as threats, they’re confined to their separate realms. What we see between these monsters is also a very human problem. Many times, people want the same outcome, but we don’t see past our differences and choose to work alone rather than together.

Yet when Godzilla and Kong realize they can’t defeat the Skar King alone, the two egotistical monsters begrudgingly choose to unite. Seeing them finally team up reminded me of the Apostle Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 12, where he discusses unity and diversity in the body of believers. “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ,” he wrote. Godzilla and Kong realize this when they go from roaring and punching at one another to roaring in unison. They are ready to work together and can even be more effective because of the different abilities they bring to the battle. They are stronger united than divided.

Recently, I’ve seen this in my own life. A month ago, my mother’s house caught fire. No one was hurt, but the house looked like Godzilla and Kong had had a rematch in every room. Everything—from the items inside to the walls themselves—was lost. Even our hope threatened to abandon us amongst the sadness.

Yet my community—including my family, church, and friends—united and surrounded us. They banded together and donated clothes, money, and counsel to my mother and family as we started the long process of recovery. No one asked what we thought about any current divisive topics. No one questioned our political stances. The lines that can easily divide us were blurred as people from different backgrounds joined together to protect and bless my family. This meant the world to us. United, our community helped restore hope to us and even placed us in a position to be better off than before. They understood that when we all work together, we can do so much more; it didn’t matter what part of the “body” we were.

Alone, Godzilla and Kong would have been beaten, but by putting aside their differences, they were able to save the day. As Paul wrote, “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’” Godzilla x Kong is that principle, lived out.

The beauty of the Christian faith is that we too have a common identity and shared mission, even if that mission isn’t to defeat a giant orangutan. God made us so that even our weaknesses can be carried by the strength of those around us. It can be tempting to divide ourselves, but we must choose to celebrate how each one of us is uniquely and purposefully made. We are different because we are required to play a different role in the body. As Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire shows, it’s always for the better when we unite.