The MonsterVerse movie that does just what it says on tin

No-one walks into a film with Godzilla or Kong in the title expecting a Chekhovian excavation of the human condition.

What we want is a storyline that hangs together and gets us from one set-piece to the next, a selection of locations and beasties that are designed well enough to allow us to suspend our critical faculties for an hour or two and a cast of humans who can shout inane nonsense like they mean it and make us laugh along with them while they do.

I reckon Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire pretty much ticks those boxes.

The story is Journey to the Centre of the Earth with a few bits of Pacific Rim, Transformers and every other Godzilla movie welded on, but it propels the action across the screen well enough.

And the human cast, especially Rebecca Hall, Dan Stevens, Brian Tyree Henry and our own Rachel House, all know where the laughs are and how to deliver them.

Director Adam Wingard has been turning out likeably bonkers movies for more than a decade and it’s to his credit that a piece of corporate product like Godzilla x Kong still retains a few traces of his style.

In 2011, Wingard’s You’re Next was a blast of demented subversiveness in the home-invasion genre. And his 2014 The Guest – also starring Stevens – brought artful smarts to a small-stage thriller. I haven't seen Wingard’s break-out hit Pop Skull, but I intend to rectify that soon.

In its worst moments, watching Godzilla x Kong – to revive a very old film reviewing cliche – is like watching someone else play a video game. But in its better scenes – and there are plenty – there’s a looseness and anarchy about what’s on screen that is hard not to like.

The action is bright and relentless, the characters are concisely sketched in and the soundtrack drops in vintage bangers at the least provocation. Hey, it worked in Guardians of the Galaxy, so why not try it here?

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire can’t hold a candle to last year’s Godzilla: Minus One – and it’s nothing like as smart as Gareth Edwards’ 2014 Godzilla relaunch. But it is a likeable enough way to waste a couple of hours.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is in cinemas nationwide.

In its worst moments, watching Godzilla x Kong is like watching someone else play a video game. But, in its better scenes, there’s an anarchy that is hard not to like.