“Godzilla” and “King Kong” movies have stomped a long, lucrative, if destructive path to movie theaters.

“Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” or “GK,” as it’s called, as if a designer label, is the latest concoction.

“Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” opened at No. 1 with a weekend domestic theatrical box-office haul of $80 million, which exceeded expectations.

I figured I’d better see what all the noise is about, especially after the surprise 2023 hit, “Godzilla Minus One,” which grossed $56.4 million domestically.

“Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” is noisy.

Not only do you have the two big guys, Godzilla and King Kong, you have what seems to be Godzilla’s scaly cousin, Shimo; a band of King Kong’s relatives; a rival tribe led by Skar King, and plenty of other scary creatures along for the ride.

A ride it is. “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” is more like a summer blockbuster, but instead was released at the start of the spring season.

In “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” Godzilla and King Kong set aside their famous monsters’ differences, battles and grudges.

Godzilla has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard.

King Kong does not have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

So, you have that rivalry.

The “Godzilla” monster movie franchise includes 38 films, with 33 Japanese films produced by Toho Co., Ltd., starting with “Godzilla,” 1954, and five American films: “Godzilla,” 2014; “Kong: Skull Island,” 2017; “Godzilla: King of the Monsters,” 2019; “Godzilla vs. Kong,” 2021, and “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.”

The “King Kong” monster movie franchise includes 13 films, beginning with the big boy’s 1933 cinema debut, a classic in stop-motion animation.

The gigantic lizard and giant ape faced off in the movie, “King Kong vs. Godzilla,” released in 1962.

“Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” is mash-up of big-screen science fiction movies.

“Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” at times looks like a lot of other cinematic empires.

You have the well-meaning, if misguided scientist-explorer team of Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall), Trapper (Dan Stevens), Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry), Mikael (Alex Ferns) and Ilene’s adoptive child, Jia (Kaylee Hottle), amidst an experiment gone awry, reminiscent of “Jurassic Park” films. especially “Jurassic World” (2015).

You have the lost civilization of the Iwi, led by Iwi Queen (Fala Chen), which recalls elements of “Black Panther” (2018).

You have the exotic world of Hollow Earth, which exists somewhere beneath the ocean surface, where creatures include a Tinker Bell type character and Mothra, which recalls the fantastic world of “Avatar” (2009, 2022).

You have battles of the giant gorillas, as Skar King, complete with primitive weapons, goes up against King Kong, which recalls “The Planet of the Apes” (1968).

One of my favorites ion the Monsterverse is “Godzilla vs. Hedorah (The Smog Monster),” 1971, appropriately released approximately one year after the first Earth Day, April 22, 1970.

Another classic is “Mothra vs. Godzilla” (1964). Scenes of the Twin Fairies in their pillbox hats and singing their siren song are cinematic gems.

In each new Godzilla movie, the big lizard seems to take on larger proportions, with Computer Generated Imagery submerging emotional expressions, especially in “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.”

In contrast, in “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” the big ape is given a range of emotions, especially in the animation of the eyes and facial expressions. King Kong’s ward or sidekick, a young gorilla, Suko, is animated to steal every scene he’s in.

A humorous scene in “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” has to do with a tooth extraction. Trapper, who is a dentist, rappels and uses a crane to yank an incisor from the mouth of a sedated King Kong. Invoking fears of visits to the dentist, it’s a jump scare.

There are other jump scares. A scene where a character is dispatched in the jungle made me leap in my seat.

The CGI creature animation is amazing even though the action is sometimes akin to a Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots game.

The music by Tom Holkenborg (“Godzilla vs. Kong,” 2021) and Antonio Di Iorio adds intensity to the plentiful action scenes.

Director Adam Wingard (Director, “Godzilla vs. Kong,” 2021; “The Guest,” 2021) gets good performances from the human characters and, working with Director of Photography Ben Seresin (“Godzilla vs. Kong”; “World War Z,” 2013; “Unstoppable,” 2010), uses interesting camera angles for dialogue scenes.

Rebecca Hall (“The Prestige,” 2006) is solid and refreshing, reprising her role from “Godzilla vs. Kong.”

Bryan Tyree Henry (Oscar nominee, supporting actor, “Causeway”; 2023; “Bullet Train,” 2022; “TV’s “Atlanta,” 2016-2022) is hilarious, also back from “Godzilla vs. Kong.”

Dan Stevens (“Beauty and the Beast,” 2017; TV’s “Downton Abbey,” 2010-2012) has some good moments.

Kaylee Hottle, a deaf actress, is a revelation, also reprising her role from “Godzilla vs. Kong,” as Jia. Her American Sign Language scenes with Rebecca Hall are charming.

The screenplay is by Terry Rossio (Oscar nominee, adapted screenplay, “Shrek,” 2001; “Godzilla vs. Kong,” 2021; “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” 2003; “The Mask of Zorro,” 1998; “Godzllla,” 1998; Aladdin,” 1992), Simon Barrett (“The Guest,” 2014) and Jeremy Slater (“Fantastic Four,” 2015) from a story by Rossio, Wingard and Barrett.

“Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” has the sense of a WWE wrestling match. Instead of “Wrestlemania,” it’s “Monstermania.”

With “Wrestlemania 40” and Freedom High School, Bethlehem Area School District, to quote a sports cliché, “product” Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson back in the ring, there’s no telling where the Monsterverse franchise could go. “The Rock,” who starred in “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” (2017), “Jumanji: The Next Level” (2019) and was benched after “Black Adam” (2022), would be a great addition to the world of Godzilla and Kong.

“Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” should entertain pre-teens and fans of Godzilla and King Kong movies.

“Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,”

MPAA rated PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.) for creature violence and action.; Genre: Action, Adventure, Science-Fiction; Run time: 1 hour, 55 minutes. Distributed by Warner Bros.

Credit Readers Anonymous:

“Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” locations include Australia, Brazil, Morocco, Italy, Spain, Gibraltar, Iceland and Hawaii from July to November 2022. The soundtrack has “I Was Made for Lovin’ You” by Kiss, “Twilight Zone” by Golden Earring and “Turn Me Loose” by Loverboy.

At The Movies:

“Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” was seen in Dolby at AMC, AMC Center Valley 16. The low bass and explosions on the soundtrack rocked the recliner seat so often it was like sitting in a massage chair.

Theatrical Movie Domestic Weekend Box Office,

April 12-14: “Civil War” opened at No. 1 with $25.7 million in 3,838 theaters, ending the two-week No. 1 run of “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” dropping one place to No. 2 with $15.4 million in 3,847 theaters, $157.9 million, three weeks.

3. “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” stayed in place, $5.8 million in 3,350 theaters, $96.9 million, four weeks. 4. “Kung Fu Panda 4” moved up one place, $5.5 million in 3,104 theaters, $173.6 million, six weeks. 5. “Dune: Part Two” moved up one place, $4.3 million in 2,401 theaters, $272.1 million, seven weeks. 6. “Monkey Man” dropped four places, $4.1 million in 3,037 theaters, $17.7 million, two weeks. 7. “The First Omen” dropped three places, $3.7 million in 3,375 theaters, $14.6 million, two weeks. 8. “The Long Game,” opening, $1.3 million in 1,030 theaters. 9. “Shrek 2” 2024 re-release, opening, $1.3 million in 1,512 theaters. 10. “Suga | Agust D Tour D-Day The Movie,” a BTS concert movie, $990,881 in 792 theaters, $2.2 million, since opening April 10.

Movie box office information from Box Office Mojo as of April 14 is subject to change.

Unreel,

April 19:

“Abigail,”

R: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett direct Alisha Weir (Abigail), Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, Giancarlo Esposito, Matthew Goode, Kevin Durand, Melissa Barrera and Angus Cloud (his final role) in the Horror, Thriller. Criminals kidnap a ballerina, a daughter of an underworld leader. Are they are in for a surprise.

“The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare,”

R: Guy Ritchie directs Henry Cavill, Alan Ritchson, Alex Pettyfer, Eliza Gonzalez, Cary Elwes, Babs Olusanmokun and Henry Golding in the Action, Drama, War film. A British military group strikes behind Nazi lines in World War II.

“Sasquatch Sunset,”

R: David Zellner and Nathan Zellner direct Jesse Eisenberg and Riley Keough in the Action, Adventure, Comedy. it’s a year in the life of Bigfoot. Think “Planet of the Apes” in the Pacific Northwest. Apparently, Elvis has not left the building.

“Hard Miles,”

PG-13: R. J. Daniel Hanna directs Sean Astin, Mathew Modine and Leslie David Baker in the Drama, Sports film. A prison social worker takes a cycling team of teenage convicts on a 1,000-mile ride. It’s based on the true story of Greg Townsend the Ridgeview Academy Cycling Team.

“Spy x Family Code: White,”

PG-13: Kazuhiro Furuhashi directs the voice talents of Takuya Eguchi, Saori Hayami, Yuko Kaida, Ayane Sakura, Kento Kaku and Tomoya Nakamura in the Anime Animation, Action, Comedy. A cooking contest is held at Eden Academy.

“Villains Incorporated,”

PG-13: Jeremy Warner directs Mallory Everton, Colin Mochrie, Jason Gray, Billy Mann, James Perry and Jeremy Warner in the Comedy. Beatrix, Cain and Harold, who live in an abandoned grocery store, want to take over the world.

“Wildfire: The Legend of the Cherokee Ghost Horse,”

No MPAA rating: Eric Parkinson directs Mo Brings Plenty, Anne Heche, Adrian Paul, Cara Jade Myers, Chevel Shepherd and Michael Martin Murphey in the Family film inspired by the Michael Martin Murphey 1975 hit pop song, “Wildfire.”

Movie opening date information from Internet Movie Database as of April 14 is subject to change.

Three Popcorn Boxes out of Five Popcorn Boxes