Filmmakers have been fascinated with giant monsters knocking seven bells out of each other ever since the 1933 King Kong and the 1954 Japanese Godzilla. The 21st saw the return to the big screen of these two titans with both Godzilla and Kong: Skull Island introducing the MonsterVerse and a hit-and-miss affair it has been, with the last entry, Godzilla vs Kong, finally getting it right. Audiences don’t want long explanations, but the ape and the lizard punching each other and destroying buildings. Hopes were high with the new franchise episode, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Sadly, this entry doesn’t even come close to the previous film and is nothing more than a crushing bore.

Signals are coming from the Hallow Earth, the land where Kong lives. These signals warn that something dangerous is coming. When Godzilla starts to head towards the signals, the human research team must enter the Hollow Earth to find a civilization that was thought to have been wiped out and a new threat that can only be stopped if the two titans join forces and fight side-by-side.

Director Adam Wingard returns to helm this entry after succeeding with the 2021 film but seems to have forgotten what made that film work. Where the previous outing worked was he knew exactly what the audience wanted. The human characters were sketches, but that didn’t matter. The ticket admission was for the spectacle of seeing the legends going head-to-head in a film that slowed down during the explanation of Hollow Earth, the land under the earth where prehistoric creatures roam and where Kong can be king. The previous movie was memorable for the set pieces, particularly the fight at sea, where they used battleships as bases to stand and fight, and, of course, the neon-lit ending.

This time, however, Wingard and his writing team decide that audiences don’t want to see monsters destroying property while knocking themselves around but go for a more mystical tale in which Kong’s life in Hollow Earth is interrupted by a world ruled by another giant ape who holds another creature to escape from the Earth above. At the same time, Dr Ilene Andrews is worried about her adopted daughter, Jia, getting images of three triangles similar to the warning signs the Monarch Institute is picking up.

Meanwhile, Godzilla is heading across Europe toward the same signal. What does this all mean? Who cares? The trouble is that all the exposition about lost worlds and science over substance slows the film to almost a complete stop. This is not what audiences want. Wildly, when the dialogue is rammed with cliches that make no real sense but are delivered earnestly by a cast that believes this is far more important than it should be.

We get the occasional set piece, but they are either filmed in a confused and muddled way or are just repetitions of the previous set piece. It’s not until Kong meets Godzilla in Eygpt that the excitement rises, but then it gets lost in a finale with monsters battling each other in Hollow Earth without atmosphere. Then they reach above ground, and the moment we have been waiting for finally happens. Mass destruction in Rio! By that point, it’s all too late.

What doesn’t help is having Godzilla Minus One released so close to this. That Japanese reinvention of the Godzilla story was not only a masterclass in mixing spectacle with human emotion but also had some incredible effects that took away the Oscar this year, made with half the budget of this. Here, the film is nothing more than a green screen and multicoloured effects that don’t impress.

The human cast tries their best but is lost among boring dialogue and effects. Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, and Kaylee Hottle return, and Dan Stevens joins the team as a hippie-like vet with good music taste (the film’s saving grace). Yet they don’t make an impression enough to either praise or criticise. They are just there!

Like last week’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, this isn’t a great start to the blockbuster season. Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire will probably reap the benefits of a big weekend box office but will be instantly forgotten by the end of the year. Your best bet is to wait for Godzilla Minus One to come to streaming or revisit Godzilla vs. Kong. Maybe avoid using the word Empire in your title as well.

2 out of 5

Director: Adam Wingard

Starring: Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens, Kaylee Hottle, Alex Ferns, Fala Chen, Rachel House, Ron Smyck, Chantelle Jamieson, Greg Hatton

Written by: Jeremy Slater, (also story) Terry Rossio, Simon Barrett and (story) Adam Wingard

Running Time: 115 mins

Cert: 12A

Release date: 29th March 2024