The Stream: The plot makes no sense, and the human characters are very corny.

The Big Screen: A few cool action sequences and a funny line here and there.

The Final Bill: More of the same Godzilla and King Kong nonsense, but it’s boring this time.

– Trip Fontaine
Director: Adam Wingard
Writers: Terry Rossio, Simon Barrett, Jeremy Slater
Stars: Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens, Kaylee Hottle
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Rating: PG-13 for creature violence and action.
Runtime: 1 hour 46 minutes
Production Companies: Warner Bros., Legendary Entertainment, Screen Queensland,
Platform: In theaters on March 29, 2024
Notable Trailers: Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Despicable Me 4

Hey, Streamers! “I know you were waiting with bated breath for another Godzilla and King Kong movie!” he said sarcastically. Apparently, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is the fifth movie in the MonsterVerse franchise and a direct sequel to Godzilla vs. Kong from 2021. Remember that one? Well, The New Empire is hardly new. It’s just more of the same. If you care, here’s how it goes.

In Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, while Kong is living a lonely existence in his new territory, Hollow Earth, Godzilla is protecting humanity from other Titans by destroying cities as he fights monsters like, Scylla in the middle of Rome. Kong encounters a new threat deeper in Hollow Earth and needs Godzilla’s assistance in defeating the threat and saving the world. Some human characters, who have appeared in the previous films like Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall), Bernie (Brian Tyree Henry), and Jia (Kaylee Hottle), provide some human intervention that may be necessary for Godzilla and Kong to come together. Radiation spewing, pyramid destroying hijinks ensue.

If you’ve seen any movie in this MonsterVerse franchise, then you know exactly what you’re going to get with this one. The problem is the overall plot of this one doesn’t make a lot of sense. Things seem to just happen. In one scene, the characters have no idea what’s going on and soon after they have a crazy solution cooked up. Moreover, the human characters are very annoying. The writing is ridiculous, bland and unfunny. The one-liners said mostly by Bernie and Trapper (Dan Stevens) are very corny. What’s worse is that the promised interaction between Godzilla and Kong takes forever to get to. When the clash does happen, it’s fun; but also, it’s the same as all of the other movies. Lastly, the visual effects are hit and miss.

You come to Godzilla x Kong for spectacle and destruction, and it delivers on that front even though it takes too long to get to it.

Ultimately, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is a boring, retread of this monster-clash franchise. There isn’t enough interaction between Godzilla and Kong. The human characters are so annoying and corny. The plot doesn’t make much sense even for a movie about a radioactive lizard and a giant gorilla. It is too tedious to be entertaining enough for a trip to the theater despite the visual effects and scale. You can wait until this is available on streaming.