When we last saw cinema’s two most popular massive monsters in 2021, we witnessed Godzilla vs. Kong. 2024 brings them back via a direct sequel entitled Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.

Three years after they joined forces to defeat Mechagodzilla, Kong and Godzilla lead separate lives. Kong resides inside the planet via the supernatural “Hollow Earth” location, while Godzilla roams the world to maintain stability among humans and monstrous “titans”.

When a lonely Kong finds some of his own species, this seems like a positive development. However, this discovery unleashes an evil ape called the Skar King, a force whose threat to humanity will force Kong and Godzilla to partner one more time.

Empire marks the 10th anniversary of the “Monsterverse”, a franchise that launched with 2014’s Godzilla. Between that one and 2021’s GvK, we found 2017’s Kong: Skull Island and 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

I find myself somewhat surprised that the “Monsterverse” persevered for so long simply because none of the movies turned into smash hits. All came with pretty steep budgets and failed to deliver major returns.

To be fair, all but the 2019 Godzilla flick appeared to turn a profit. However, they did so narrowly, so none of them raked in the mega-bucks I assume the suits at the studio expected.

I guess the producers figure that small but reliable profits act as enough reason to continue to explore the franchise. Actually, Empire proved arguably the most profitable of all, as it brought in roughly four times its budget, the best “multiplier” of the bunch.

Even more surprising than the fact this not-all-that successful franchise made it to five films? The presence of screenwriting credits attached to Empire, as it becomes hard to find evidence of an actual script in play here.

Okay, that probably seems unfair, but seriously, it took three people to write a screenplay for a movie that essentially adds up to “monsters fight each other”? Oh, Empire does attempt some character depth with the humans, especially related to young Jia (Kaylee Hottle).

As seen in the prior flicks, Jia comes from a Skull Island culture that apparently no longer exists. Indeed, she bonds with Kong due to this “lone survivor” status.

During Empire, Jia discovers other of her kind. This leads to some character drama, especially because her adoptive mother/Kong expert Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall) fears she will lose her daughter.

In most movies, this thread would act as a strong dramatic arc. In Empire, it feels like nothing more than token windowdressing.

With each successive “Monsterverse” movie, the humans become increasingly superfluous. I get the sense the filmmakers really want to focus entirely on Godzilla, Kong and the other critters but they figure the audience demands at least some roles who spew dialogue.

And they’re probably right, as we need someone to provide exposition – I guess. As seen in Empire, the “plot” elements feel so superfluous that maybe those involved should just go for the gold and make a story sans dialogue that just concentrates on monster antics.

Honestly, such a product couldn’t seem much more plot-free than Empire. As occurred with GvK, Empire really just exists to give us monster on monster violence, so anything else feels extraneous.

Which I might support if the action fared better. Empire certainly provides a lot of violence, and it uses the final act to place much of this on the world stage.

This means we see mayhem at the Egyptian Pyramids as well as in Rio de Janeiro. Apparently the filmmakers believe we’ll delight in the sight of destruction at famous places.

Instead, these scenes tend to feel gratuitous and somewhat off-putting. For all its flaws, 2016’s Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice got it right when it highlighted the human cost of the massive battles favored in so many action movies.

Most action films essentially want us to ignore all the collateral damage when we watch mega-battles, and we usually can do so. For me, however, Empire becomes the proverbial bridge too far.

Why did the movie’s casual destruction of historic landmarks along with the clear death of tens of thousands bug me so much here? I guess just because Empire seems so cavalier about it.

Perhaps this makes sense from the film’s POV. Would Godzilla, Kong, and the others really worry about those ant-like humans?

Maybe not, but the movie fails to play up this potential angle. As such, it just wants us to go “kewl kewl” as the monsters cause massive death and destruction.

I suspect this element bugs me more than expected because Empire follows so closely on the heels of 2023’s Godzilla Minus One. That film clearly articulated the human cost of monstrous rampages, so by contrast, Empire feels awfully tone deaf.

I also suspect my general disenchantment with Empire turns into a factor. If the movie drew me in more fully, I probably would go with the flow more easily.

But given the less than engaging nature of Empire as a whole, its climactic battles fail to fix its problems. I like the “Monsterverse” movies in theory, but Empire becomes another iffy effort that leaves me largely cold.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire appears in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. From a true 4K source, the Dolby Vision image looked great.

At all times, sharpness appeared positive. I thought the image seemed accurate and well-defined from start to finish, with virtually no signs of softness on display.

I noticed no signs of shimmering or jaggies, and the movie lacked any edge haloes. Source flaws also remained absent.

Like most other modern action flicks, Empire favored stylized colors, and as usual, those colors tended toward blue/teal and amber/orange. Actually, the palette broadened thanks to all the various monsters.

While matters stayed heavily stylized, at least a wider variety of tones emerged. Within these choices, the hues looked positive, and HDR gave them a boost.

Blacks were always deep and tight, and I saw good contrast as well. Shadows seemed clear and appropriately opaque. HDR added impact to whites and contrast. The 4K UHD became a strong reproduction of the film.

Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, I felt just as pleased with the impressive Dolby Atmos soundtrack of Empire. A movie packed with mayhem and action, the mix used all the channels in a lively, involving manner.

Vehicles, weapon-fire, monsters, robots and similar elements popped up from all around the room and delivered a smooth, engrossing soundscape. This meant nearly constant material all the speakers.

The back domain delivered a high level of information and created a great sense of place in that domain. All of this melded together in a vivid, satisfying manner.

Audio quality was also strong. Music seemed full and bold, while speech was consistently natural and crisp.

Effects became the most prominent component, of course, and packed a solid punch, with positive clarity and range. People invest major bucks in home theaters for flicks like this, and Empire delivered the goods.

As we shift to extras, we launch with an audio commentary from director Adam Wingard, visual effects supervisor Alessandro Ongaro, production designer Tom Hammock and editor Josh Schaeffer. All four sit together for a running, screen-specific look at story/characters, creature design, various effects, cast and performances, sets and locations, music, editing and cut scenes, action and related topics.

This turns into a pretty satisfying commentary. The track moves at a nice pace and covers an appropriate array of subjects in a largely engaging manner.

A slew of featurettes follow, and Day of Reckoning spans five minutes, 58 seconds. It offers info from Wingard, director Jordan Vogt-Roberts, Legendary Entertainment’s Barnaby Legg, producer Alex Garcia, and actors Brian Tyree Henry, Vera Farmiga, Bryan Cranston, David Straithairn, Millie Bobby Brown, Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, and Rebecca Hall.

“Day” offers a general overview of the five-film “Monsterverse” series that started in 2014. This acts as a decent reminder of the various movies but it lacks much real informational value.

Under Evolution of the Titans, we find “Godzilla Evolved” (5:33) and “Kong’s Journey” (5:44). Across these, we hear from Wingard, Garcia, Hammock, Ongaro, Hall, and actors Kaylee Hottle and Dan Stevens.

These clips look at character elements and design choices. Like “Day”, these reels come with a few useful notes but they mostly just summarize the two lead characters and don’t seem especially compelling.

Into the Hollow Earth splits into “Visualizing Hollow Earth” (5:46) and “Monsters of Hollow Earth” (5:39). Over these we find info from Wingard, Garcia, Henry, Stevens, Ongaro, Hammock, Hall, unit production manager Eric McLeod, cinematographer Ben Seresin and actor Fala Chen.

These examine the movie’s fantastical “Hollow Earth” locations as well as their inhabitants. They give us a little information and a lot of fluff.

Three clips appear within The Battles Royale: “A Titanic Fight Among the Pyramids” (5:30), “The Zero Gravity Battle” (5:03) and “The Titans Trash Rio” (5:22). Expect notes from Wingard, Hammock,. Ongard, Garcia, McLeod, and supervising location manager Lauren Cooper.

Here we examine the film’s real life locations and related design choices. Unsurprisingly, these remain superficial ala their predecessors.

The Intrepid Director gives us two segments: “Big Kid” (3:43) and “Set Tour” (3:44). We heat from Wingard, Hammock, Chen, McLeod, Henry, Stevens, Hall, Seresin, unit production manager Jen Conroy, digital imaging technician Robert Howie, armorer Michael Bate, 1st assistant cameraman Simon England, on-set art director Peter Kodicek, 1st AD Brian Avery Galligan, director’s assistant Anna Cook, and actor Alex Ferns.

“Kid” tells us how fresh and fun Wingard is, while “Tour” follows Wingard around the production. “Kid” becomes little more than fluff, while “Tour” mixes silliness with a few useful glimpses.

With The Imagination Department, we find a three-minute, 47-second reel. It offers material from Wingard.

The filmmaker leads us through concept art created for the film and discusses these design choices. It becomes brief but tight.

Portal to Another World goes for five minutes, 32 seconds. Here we hear from Wingard, Hammock, McLeod, Ongaro, Garcia, Ferns, Hall, Henry, and Stevens.

“Portal” looks at set design and locations as well as some effects. This one proves reasonably informative.

Next we go to From Orphan to Warrior. This five-minute, 58-second featurette involves Hottle, Garcia, Wingard, Ongaro, Hammock and Hall.

This one discusses the Jia character as well as Hottle’s performance. It lacks substance.

Finally, Behind the Triple Locked Door spans three minutes, 28 seconds. It gives us info from Henry, Wingard, Hammock, Hall,

“Door” examines the Bernie’s apartment set. We get a decent peek at details we otherwise would miss.

Essentially 115 minutes of CG monster mayhem with minimal plot elements built around it, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire fails to really engage. The action occasionally sparks to life but the essential lack of compelling story and character material makes it a bit of a drag. The 4K UHD comes with excellent picture and audio as well as an erratic selection of supplements. I always hope the “Monsterverse” will eventually click, but Empire doesn’t do much for me.