Monsterverse Movies Ranked: All Five Films, Best to Worst
My Monsterverse movies ranked, best to worst, are Godzilla (2014), Kong: Skull Island, Godzilla vs. Kong, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire and Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Godzilla (2014), directed by Gareth Edwards, is my pick for first place, but that is my opinion and the money tells a different story, because Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is the highest grossing film at $572 million worldwide. Each of the five gets a verdict built on a scene, a budget and a gross, so you can disagree with the specifics.
Key Takeaways
- My pick for the best Monsterverse film is Godzilla (2014), and my pick for the weakest is Godzilla: King of the Monsters.
- Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is the highest grossing Monsterverse film at $572 million worldwide, with Kong: Skull Island second at $569 million.
- Godzilla vs. Kong earned $470 million worldwide on a $155 million production budget, so on the theatrical record it is a hit.
- Only five theatrical films are ranked here. Godzilla x Kong: Supernova is dated March 26, 2027 and is not ranked until it is released.
Hot Takes
- Opinion, Callan Brooks: Godzilla (2014) is still the best Monsterverse film because it makes scale the scare, and no sequel has matched that patience.
- Opinion, Callan Brooks: Kong: Skull Island is a better monster movie than Godzilla vs. Kong, because its rules for the island are clearer from the first attack.
- Opinion, Callan Brooks: Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire earned the most money and still sits fourth on my list, since grosses measure turnout and not how well a creature is used.
Opinion, by Callan Brooks.
- 1
Godzilla
Godzilla (2014) is the best Monsterverse film because it makes the creature's scale the scare. Gareth Edwards opens with the 1999 disaster at the Janjira nuclear plant and builds toward a chrysalis feeding on the plant's reactors, so the size of the threat is felt before the full creature appears. In my opinion that patience is the best creature design decision in the series, and the HALO jump sequence is the best use of a human point of view in any Monsterverse film. Alexandre Desplat's score gives it a gravity the later films rarely chase.
- 2
Kong: Skull Island
Kong: Skull Island is the second best Monsterverse film because its opening attack states the rule of the whole film: the island belongs to Kong. Jordan Vogt-Roberts sets it in 1973, and Kong scatters a helicopter team that has just dropped seismic charges to map the island. Samuel L. Jackson as Preston Packard and John C. Reilly as Hank Marlow give the humans a point of view that I rate above most of the series. It is the most expensive film in the series, and its gross sits just behind the leader.
- 3
Godzilla vs. Kong
Godzilla vs. Kong is the third best Monsterverse film because it has the clearest payoff of the shared universe. Adam Wingard holds Kong in a dome on Skull Island and gives him an emotional anchor in Jia, a deaf orphan who uses sign language. The Apex Cybernetics investigation led by Madison Russell and her friends slows the middle, in my opinion, and Godzilla's attack on Apex is never given a clear reason early on. On the theatrical record it returned a little over three times its cost.
- 4
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is the fourth best Monsterverse film, even though it is the biggest earner in the series. It sends Ilene Andrews, Jia, Bernie Hayes and the Titan veterinarian Trapper (Dan Stevens) toward a hidden Iwi community, while Kong searches Hollow Earth for others of his kind and Godzilla deals with a Titan attacking Rome. It made that money from the smallest budget in the series. I place it fourth because it leans furthest into spectacle, and its rules for Hollow Earth feel looser than the rules set by the first three films.
- 5
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Godzilla: King of the Monsters is the weakest Monsterverse film because its crowded human story buries a strong opening. Michael Dougherty begins with a new Mothra hatching at a remote Monarch base and Emma Russell calming it with a sound device called the Orca. The film then crowds that start with mercenaries led by Alan Jonah, a split family and a large ensemble that includes Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga and Millie Bobby Brown. It is the longest film in the series and has the lowest return against budget of the five. I rank it last for the crowded human story, not for the creature work.
How Are the Monsterverse Movies Ranked, Best to Worst?
I ranked the five theatrical Monsterverse movies on how well the monster is shown, how clear the rules of the world are, how much the human story earns its screen time, and how the film did against its production budget. The first three are my opinion. The last comes from the record, taken from Box Office Mojo and The Numbers. Why weigh money at all? Because it answers the questions people actually search, and it keeps my taste honest (a film I rank high can still be a modest earner).
In my opinion the best Monsterverse film is Godzilla (2014), because it treats scale as the scare. After it I run Kong: Skull Island, directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts, then Godzilla vs. Kong, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire and, in last place, Godzilla: King of the Monsters. The reasons for each spot are in the ranking, and they come from specific scenes and figures.
By worldwide gross, the most successful Monsterverse film is Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire at $572 million, with Kong: Skull Island a close second at $569 million. Godzilla (2014) took $529 million, Godzilla vs. Kong took $470 million and Godzilla: King of the Monsters took $387 million. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire also had the lowest budget at $135 million, which gives it the best return against cost. That being said, my order differs from the money order in three of five places, and I think that is a fair reminder that grosses measure turnout and not craft. The full table sits on our Monsterverse box office page.
On the theatrical record Godzilla vs. Kong is a hit, with $470 million worldwide against a $155 million production budget, a little over three times its cost. Production budgets leave out marketing, so a studio's own profit sums will differ, and I will not guess at them.
Godzilla x Kong: Supernova, directed by Grant Sputore, is dated March 26, 2027 in the US and is not ranked until it is released. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is not one of the five theatrical films ranked here. Monarch itself, the secret agency whose Bill Randa persuades the government to fund the island survey, first appears in my ranking through Kong: Skull Island. If you are new to the series, start with the Monsterverse movies in order page, because Kong: Skull Island (set in 1973) is the earliest main-story film, even though Godzilla (2014) was released first. Our Monsterverse hub has every film in one place.
FAQs
What is the best Monsterverse film?
In my opinion the best Monsterverse film is Godzilla (2014), directed by Gareth Edwards. It builds from the 1999 Janjira nuclear plant disaster to a chrysalis feeding on the plant's reactors, and it makes the size of the creature the scare. Kong: Skull Island is my second pick.
Which Godzilla movie was the most successful?
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024) is the most successful Monsterverse film, at $572 million worldwide according to Box Office Mojo. It also had the lowest budget in the series at $135 million. Kong: Skull Island is second at $569 million, and Godzilla (2014) is third at $529 million.
Is Godzilla vs. Kong a hit or a flop?
On the theatrical record Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) is a hit. It grossed $470 million worldwide against a production budget of $155 million, a little over three times the cost. Marketing costs are not in that budget figure, so this is a box office verdict and not a profit statement.
What is the worst Monsterverse movie?
The worst Monsterverse movie, in my ranking, is Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), directed by Michael Dougherty. It also has the lowest worldwide gross in the series at $387 million against a $170 million budget. I rank it last for a crowded human story, not for its creature work.
Where does Godzilla x Kong: Supernova rank among the Monsterverse movies?
Godzilla x Kong: Supernova has no place in the ranking yet, because it has not been released. It is dated March 26, 2027 in the US, directed by Grant Sputore, with Warner Bros. distributing, according to the Legendary Entertainment film page. A verdict needs a finished film to judge.
What order should I watch the Monsterverse movies in?
Start with Godzilla (2014) for release order, then watch Kong: Skull Island, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Godzilla vs. Kong and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Story order differs only at the start, because Kong: Skull Island is set in 1973 and comes first. Our Monsterverse movies in order page lays out both lists.