MOVIES AND STREAMING: Yet another clash of the CGI titans

Cinema
Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire
You know exactly what you're letting yourself in for when you buy a ticket to see a movie with both Godzilla and King Kong in the title.

A sequel to the 2021 monster movie mash-up that was Godzilla vs. Kong, Godzilla X Kong is the latest instalment in Legendary studio's ever expanding Monsterverse and sees Japan's favourite reptilian behemoth join forces with everyone's favourite peed-off primate.

Following a very similar premise to the previous Legendary movies in this elaborate series, fans expect nothing more than the chance to see their favourite screen monsters engage in hand-to-hand combat on a ludicrously magnified scale.
Director Adam Wingard has an eye for OTT chills and thrills, and keeps the action as a tight as he can while fleshing out the bare bones of a story in between each fierce fracas. In fact, Wingard's gameplan seems to be to just crank up the action, make the monsters as horrifically brutal and wild as possible, and set the scene for Godzilla and Kong to patch it up, join together and take on their freakish new foes with considerable gusto.

There's not much more to it than that, and it's a winning formula if all you want from a movie is action and spectacle.

While Dan Stevens and Rebecca Hall add a little class as the human cast, there's no denying they play second fiddle to the in-your-face CGI animation and special effects.
Incredibly noisy and ostentatious in the extreme, Godzilla X Kong is a popcorn movie with a feverish appetite for destruction. You'll know already if it's your cup of tea. If it is, enjoy! If not, avoid!
 
Kung Fu Panda 4
After three hefty helpings of Kung Fu Panda, a fourth instalment wasn't really expected. Still, it's hard to dislike Jack Black's dumpling-loving Dragon Warrior Po and, as soon as action kicks off in Kung Fu Panda 4, you find yourself easily drawn back in.

This time around, we find that Po has reached his limits as the all-conquering Dragon Warrior and Dustin Hoffman's Master Shifu is ready to move on to pastures new and hand over the reins of leadership to Po.

Unfortunately, a powerful new foe arises in the form of  the Chameleon, a shape-shifting sorceress who will stop at nothing to get her claws on Po's coveted Staff of Wisdom.
It's a fairly by-the-numbers adventure that rounds off the franchise nicely, with some nifty action and plenty of wise-cracks to keep everyone in the family entertained over the Easter holidays.