Did We Really Need Kaiju to Get All Cute?

Godzilla has pink highlights in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. We see the process by which he gets them, a laborious level-up quest that involves the destruction of some French countryside and the murder of a fellow Titan. He’s supercharging himself for a coming battle, though instead of emerging from his efforts looking more formidable, the result — fuchsia dorsal spines, eyes, and an overall glow — is disconcertingly adorable, like someone tried to dye a very angry cat. Godzilla may be a massive reptilian creature, but in the world of the MonsterVerse, he’s definitely feline (semi-domesticated at best, comes for food but otherwise does his own thing). Kong, giant ape though he may be, is a dog (follows basic commands, has unexpected dentistry needs, must be crated in the secret prehistoric kingdom in the middle of the planet). The only memorable image in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, the fifth installment in this lackadaisical franchise, is an early one of Godzilla curling up inside the Colosseum in Rome to sleep like a tabby claiming an empty box as his bed.