April 2, 2024 – King Kong and Godzilla aren't the oldest movie monsters around. Dracula, at over 100 years old, has them all beat in that regard, but these two giant monsters have been around for a long time. The first King Kong movie was released over 90 years ago, in 1933, just two years after “Frankenstein,” and “Godzilla” is 70 years old, first appearing on screen in 1954. This new sequel brings back a lot of familiar themes from these old movie franchises.

King Kong has always had an eye for the ladies, and Godzilla and Mothra have long been connected to girls (or girls pretending to be fairies). I remember once seeing some young girls in one of those movies singing a weird Mothra song to invoke the protection of the giant creature. That tradition is carried forward with Jia (played by 11 year-old Kaylee Hottle, reprising her role from “Godzilla vs. Kong,” 2021).

Jia, rescued from Skull Island, in the last film, and adopted, by scientist Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall, also reprising her role from the 2021 film) is picking up distress calls from underground (Hollow Earth, as in Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth). Godzilla and Kong are picking up on the same signals, but the bureaucrats on the surface are slow to pick up on the threat.

Andrews can't decipher the signals, so she goes to her favorite conspiracy podcaster, Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry, also reprising his role) for answers (in movies conspiracy theorists are not crazy, instead, they are always right). When it comes time to go to Hollow Earth to investigate the origin of the signals, Jia and Bernie convince Andrews to let them come along on the dangerous journey.

In Hollow Earth, the team, including the dashing veterinarian, Trapper (Dan Stevens of “I'm Your Man”) and a pilot, find that a research lab in Hollow Earth has been destroyed by some force bigger than Kong. The team discovers all sorts of things in Hollow Earth that were hitherto unknown, including the lost Iwi tribe who somehow control some kind of anti-gravity crystal power. Jia is the last surviving member of the Iwi tribe from Skull Island that was wiped out in the previous film.

It turns out that this spear-carrying, primitive-looking tribe of people can somehow communicate telepathically, and can control gravity, send mysterious signals to the surface of the earth and can communicate with Kong, Godzilla and other such critters.

Meanwhile, Kong, after getting a giant dental implant from Trapper, is on his own quest. He finds a hidden part of Hollow Earth where others of his species have been hiding. Kong is befriended by a young giant ape, Suko, but he discovers that Suko and all the other giant apes are being held captive by an evil giant ape named the Skar King, who controls a titanic creature with the power to bring about a new ice age on earth.

What follows is a prophecy, some big monster battles, and the destruction of some very famous landmarks. Kong and Godzilla are supposed to be protecting the earth, but they end up killing a lot of people and doing a lot of property damage, but for the greater good, I guess.

This movie is a lot like a cartoon because most of the main characters are animated, and they are often seen interacting only with each other. Since most of the main characters can't speak, this is a bit like a silent movie at times because the plot has to be advanced without the aid of dialog, or even subtitles, and sometimes this does not work well.

I like this movie strictly as an animated action comedy. It doesn't work as a suspenseful drama because it is obvious which characters are going to survive, although I was surprised to find one particular character still alive at the end. There are few surprises, but there is lots of action, most of it of the animated variety. I also liked it because I am a 3D fan, and this 3D conversion is very good. Those who only see the flat version of this film may be less impressed with this movie. This movie rates a C+.

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