With the release of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, there have now been five films in 10 years for Legendary Pictures' so-called MonsterVerse. Unfortunately for this new film, it comes just months after the release of the universally praised (and now Oscar-winning) Godzilla Minus One, a Japanese film that managed to deliver both great action and a compelling human story.

The difference between the approaches of that film and this film could not be starker, with The New Empire playing out like a Mad Libs version of a monster movie, where nothing makes sense. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall) and her daughter Jia (Kaylee Hottle), who were the heart of the previous film, Godzilla vs. Kong, remain in place, with the deaf Jia being one of the few who can communicate with King Kong, who now resides full time in a realm below Earth's surface dubbed Hollow Earth.

Godzilla, meanwhile, remains aboveground, springing into action to take out any other monsters that come out of the woodwork, with widespread destruction a small price to pay for his protection services. What happens in the rest of the film is anyone’s guess, as it’s just a hodgepodge of nonsensical fights that involves a new troop of evil apes, the ramblings of conspiracy theorist/podcaster Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry), and more examples of deus ex machina than have ever been employed in a single film.

Directed once again by Adam Wingard and written by Terry Rossio, Simon Barrett, and Jeremy Slater, the film is the bluntest yet about how little the human characters matter in the story being told. Almost every person in the film is only present to deliver perfunctory lines about what the various monsters are doing in order to give a reason for the movie to move from one place to another. Once the humans are there, they cease to have any importance, as all the attention shifts to the fights between the monsters.

It’s in those scenes that the film might as well be a silent movie, as – save for all the roaring and screeching – there’s little reason to have any sound whatsoever. But unlike silent movies that can get across lots of meaning with their visuals, the fights depicted fail to be exciting in the slightest. The filmmakers shift the hatred and loyalties of the creatures on a dime to suit whatever whim they were having in the moment, hoping that audiences will be blinded by the mayhem and not care that there’s little else to hold their attention.

Anyone who was impressed (as I was) by the intensity of the face-offs between Godzilla and King Kong in the previous film will likely be disappointed this time around. Their one-on-ones are replaced by a jumble of other creatures, including a small ape I’m calling Diddy Kong and a lackluster appearance by the classic monster Mothra. Their battles are a CGI mess that are designed to appeal only to those lucky enough to be able to turn their minds off during movies.

If any film could have gotten away with having A.I. human characters, this is it. Hall and Hottle fade into the background, and the only impact by Henry and a new character played by Dan Stevens comes when they dial their acting up to 11. Even worse, the film includes a ham-handed attempt to include an indigenous tribe in Hollow Earth, one that gives them almost nothing to do except look the part of indigenous people.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is an abomination, a film that contains close to zero charm, humor, or any other kind of emotion. It’s a soulless production that doesn’t know how to properly showcase either its human or monster characters, leaving audiences with almost nothing to enjoy.

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Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire opens in theaters on March 29.