The serious, larger-than-life and almost existential tone of 2014’s “Godzilla” is now officially dead and gone. In its place is the most ridiculous and ludicrous shenanigans of “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.” While this sounds like an indictment, it’s really not. While I do wonder what the “monsterverse” would look like if they kept the original vision, I can’t deny that the most recent entry is some of the most fun I’ve had in the cinema for a while. This movie is simply entertaining. Yes, the human characters are irrelevant and the barebone plot is bizarre, but the pure childish joy of seeing a giant ape wearing an Iron Man glove and riding an atomic lizard punch another giant ape in the face for the fate of the world is fantastic. It’s not perfect—the film probably would have been better served without Godzilla in it, and there is some profanity. It doesn’t have a strong message like “Godzilla: Minus One,” but there is still something to glean from it. 

When Kong discovers others of his kind for the first time, he finds a downtrodden people tormented by a cruel tyrant and decides to do something about it. Psalm 82:3 (NIV) says, “Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.” We don’t need to go on the warpath to help those in need but let us do what we can and bring honor to the Lord.

*Zeitgeist is written as reviews, not recommendations.