Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

This latest installment in Warner Bros.’ “Monsterverse” raises so many questions that it’s impossible to turn your brain off completely.  I am still not sure how to pronounce the title; is it Godzilla Kong or Godzilla Times Kong?  How is it that the young girl here has a psychic link with Kong, and is able to sense coming danger?  She communicates with her adoptive mother (Rebecca Hall) through sign language, and luckily for the big monkey, he knows it too.  Why does this woman recruit the wacky podcaster (Brian Tyree Henry) to help prevent another world-ending clash of the titans, considering how many cities are obliterated and civilians killed in the chaos?

You get the point, but returning director Adam Wingard–who also helmed the previous entry in the franchise—and the team of writers are not interested in giving you the answers to these questions.  The only way to watch this film is not to ask questions, and instead just eat your popcorn.  Because at the end of the day, these creature features have never really been focused on delivering fanboys mindless escapist entertainment and relentless action sequences.  The human characters have always taken a backseat to the monsters.  Fortunately, this time we get some development of Kong, and even the humans.  There are certainly some self-aware winks courtesy of Henry’s podcaster, who walks through the magical home where Kong resides while filming everything with his handheld camera.

Alas, even hardcore fans of these movies might find themselves nodding off, especially during the tedious scenes that make up most of the first hour.  In the second half, new enemies are established and the lore expanded upon.  While we are shown much of this, exposition is also dropped in our laps.  The action marketed in the trailers finally kicks in, and once Kong dons a mechanical boxing glove, he eventually convinces Godzilla to team up with him against this film’s Big Bad.  Fortunately, these Titans have allies who assist them, but I won’t spoil your fun by getting specific.

Credit where credit is due, the showdowns between these battling beasties get pretty creative in places and are pretty well directed.  Also, the special effects are good, even if they don’t mesh convincingly with the environments or the actors.  Hall and Henry both reprise their roles from Godzilla vs. Kong, and she is given a bit more to do here.  Newcomer Dan Stevens plays a surgeon who is very good at treating monster wounds. Even so, everyone involved has the impossible task of riding the giant tail of last year’s Godzilla Minus One, which was superior in every way and proved that the Japanese are better at creating these blockbusters than Americans.

I imagine that fans of this franchise will more or less get their money’s worth and even go bananas over it.  I didn’t walk in expecting much, so while I was surprised at some of the development for Kong, I still found it to be a snoozefest that only kept me awake with all of the monkey business.  As Godzilla x Kong drew to a close, Godzilla curled up in the ruins of the Coliseum and took a nap.  That’s the best decision anyone in this entire movie made.

Rated PG-13

1 hour, 55 minutes