Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024) review

Wingard's monster movie mashup is basically the same as Godzilla vs. Kong from 2021 ... only slightly repackaged: a "distress signal" is psychically 'picked up' by hearing-impaired school student (and last member of the Iwi Tribe) Jia (Kaylee Hottle), so her, her adoptive mother (and research scientist) Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall), cocky veterinarian John Trapper (Dan Stevens) and podcaster Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry) descend into "the depths" to find Kong battling with the Skar King, who controls an ice titan named Shimo; elsewhere, Godzilla is using the Colosseum in Rome as a cozy bed (when not "powering up").  The digital effects are decent but it doesn't have innovative ideas - oh look, a robotic arm Kong could use! and he just needed a dental implant! - and there's a special appearance by Mothra during the final battle to get the fanboys giggling with glee, but if you took out every single scene of actual human beings blabbing on, no one would notice or care all that much.  It's interesting how Wingard went from making DIY projects that supposedly cost around $2k to directing blockbusters (follow your dreams, indie kids) and that, as of May 2024, this is the second highest grossing release of the year (right below Dune: Part Two).  I hope the key players involved make good use out of their paychecks.