A couple of weeks ago, “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” hit theaters, and while the film has been performing well at the box office, Lauren Chen isn’t impressed.

Between “Godzilla,” “Kong,” a giant “mechanical arm brace,” “a new evil-looking tribe of great apes,” and “a little girl who seems to be having these psychic visions,” the plot is unsurprisingly “all over the place.”

“Overall I do like the Monsterverse,” says Lauren, noting that the franchise has produced five films in the ten years since it was established. “But I think it’s starting to suffer from what a lot of series inevitably suffer from … jumping the shark.”

“If you look at those original two films [‘Godzilla’ (2014) and ‘Kong: Skull Island’ (2017)], there was a much darker, more grounded, and I think grittier approach,” she says.

However, now that the franchise is on the fifth film, Lauren feels as if the producers are essentially saying, “People aren't coming here for story, for plot, [or] for character; let's just give them monsters fighting each other.”

Between a doubly subterranean world that Lauren refers to as “Hollow Hollow Earth,” an “ancient, underground, mystical group of people” who have “strange crystal magic powers,” and a lot of “monsters punching each other in the face,” the film – especially when it comes to “the plot” and “the actual writing” – just “[doesn’t] make sense.”

However, “if you are looking for a good time with monsters fighting each other and a lot of CGI battles (that are done really well, by the way), then I think you're going to have a fun time with this movie,” says Lauren.

On another positive note, the film has “no wokeness,” and “there are a lot of jokes,” as well as “a fun soundtrack.”

To hear more of Lauren’s review, spoilers included, watch the clip below.

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