Godzilla vs. Kong: The New Empire – Monster Battle in US Theaters

TFD – Get ready for the ultimate monster showdown in “Godzilla vs. Kong: The New Empire” as they clash in US theaters with a PG-13 rating. Mark your calendars for March 29 and witness the epic battle of these iconic monsters!

On the plus side, there’s a ton of massive mayhem in “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” which may be the most geeked-out chapter in the current Monsterverse. Multiplication equals subtraction in a sequel that is Titan-ic in all the wrong ways, and regrettably, the human characters have never mattered less save from their futile attempts to explain the mayhem that results.

The logical next step after Godzilla and Kong squared off back in 2021 would be a Titan team-up, but that would require summoning a foe equal to the task. To do that, they must travel to a part of Hollow Earth that has never been visited before, where Kong must defend himself from other monsters while Godzilla roams the surface, maintaining order and causing a great deal of damage to property.

A disturbance in the, um, whatever is sensed by scientist Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall) and her adoptive daughter Jia (Kaylee Hottle), who is a survivor of Kong’s Skull Island and has a relationship with the big monster. Thus, Ilene enlists the daring monster veterinarian Trapper (Dan Stevens, a far cry from “Downton Abbey”) and podcaster Bernie (Brian Tyree Henry, once again granted the selfless position of comedic relief) to accompany them on their adventure into the unknown.

When Kong learns he’s not the only gigantic ape left, what starts out as one of those unexpected yet unexpectedly pleasant surprises develops into a less than amicable reunion. Kong will actually have to attempt recruiting his fellow “alpha titan” due to the evil nature of the new apes, while the enormous lizard stomps around, blocking threats and recharging himself like a huge Energizer Bunny.

Although “Godzilla vs. Kong” director Adam Wingard and three other credited writers undoubtedly do the right thing by handling everything with a solemn gravity in an encore behind the scenes, that doesn’t make the majority of the scenarios, dialogue, and the climactic showdown any less ridiculous.

The mythos inevitably thickens with the accumulation of these films and its spinoffs, such as the Apple TV+ series “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.” With the benefit of hindsight, however, the best course of action in this case would have been to drop the sparse plot and simply focus on the combat, skipping over the people totally and providing a few subtitles.

The spectacular effects are excellent, designed for the big screen, but this modern interpretation of Kong as a very human-looking biped has never looked quite right—a problem that has only gotten worse. Give kudos to all those involved for the nauseating ends of some creatures, a genus that may be killed very brutally and still have a PG-13 classification. (Wayne Bros. distributes the movie; CNN is a division of Warner Bros. Discovery.)

It is expected that the upcoming Godzilla-Kong partnership would provide another whimsical title, possibly resembling “hearts” or a division symbol. “Godzilla x Kong” doesn’t precisely divide or multiply, but it also doesn’t conquer because it mainly appeals to fans of this increasingly ridiculous franchise.

In US theaters, “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” opens on March 29. The rating is PG-13.