‘Godzilla x Kong’ amped by constant mayhem

Movies centered on iconic cinematic monsters regularly and predictably struggle with the human side of their stories.

Audiences show up to see Godzilla or King Kong (or both), and nobody cares what happens to the puny humans trapped in the chaos.

Unfortunately, “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” has the bad luck of opening just a few months after the Japanese breakout “Godzilla Minus One,” a spectacular blockbuster that managed to incorporate compelling human drama between all the giant-lizard stomping.

“Godzilla x Kong” takes a different approach: It avoids spending any extended time with human characters in favor of near-continuous CGI mayhem. Kong hunts monsters in the jungle world inside Hollow Earth (for those unfamiliar, watch 2021’s “Godzilla v. Kong,” or just don’t worry about it). Kong meets a young, scrappy “little” ape. He fights a mean ape. Meanwhile, Godzilla is on the surface of Earth “protecting” humanity by stomping around densely populated cities in search of radiation boosts. He seems to be “powering up” for some type of upcoming threat, but it also allows the toy companies to sell regular, blue and pink versions of Godzilla action figures.

Yes, OK, there are a few humans: Scientist Irene Andrews (Rebecca Hall) and adopted daughter/former Skull Island resident Jia (Kaylee Hottle) return from “Godzilla v. Kong,” as does conspiracy theorist blogger Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry). Dan Stevens plays a new character, Trapper, a guffawing monster veterinarian (?) who is referred to at one point as “Ace Ventura.” Odd but accurate.

That’s it. All the other humans here either don’t speak or talk exclusively on the whereabouts of various monsters. “Godzilla went in there!” or “Kong won’t like it!” Stuff like that. The approach is understandable, especially considering very few can remember even the A-list names involved in 2014’s “Godzilla,” 2017’s “Kong: Skull Island,” 2019’s “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” and 2021’s “Godzilla v. Kong.” Still, if the focus is meant to be on the monsters, the monsters need to be at least somewhat engaging in between the punching matches.

Kong, at least, has a personality, and a few scenes between him and the baby ape function well enough without any humans around to explain the emotions. Godzilla, meanwhile, wanders, naps and roars in brief snippets before taking a more active role in the final act. The big villains, the tyrannical Skar King and his dino slave Shimo, look spiffy but provide little menace.

For most of the film, the absence of humans in “Godzilla v. Kong” hobbles the spectacle of the film’s multiple, mostly forgettable action sequences. Kong fighting monsters in Hollow Earth lacks the necessary scale to make them distinct from any other monster movie. You need a puny human standing on the ground, riding Kong’s toenail or something, to sell the grandeur of the situation.

Thankfully, director Adam Wingard (another returnee from the 2021 film) still knows how to stage fun monster fights against familiar backdrops of civilization, and the last half hour of “Godzilla x Kong” finally delivers on the kind of action one wants to see in a movie like this. If Godzilla and Kong are going to fight, they need to accidentally destroy a few Egyptian pyramids in the process.

The final act makes it (barely) worth sitting through the slog of the film’s first 90 minutes. Plus, the more distance this film gets from the genuinely great “Godzilla Minus One” the better. For a two-hour advertisement for action figures, “Godzilla v. Kong” could do worse. Godzilla looks pretty good in pink, honestly.

• • •

Tyler Wilson can be reached at twilson@cdapress.com.