Bigger, louder, and sillier, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire has the Monsterverse on a sugar-rush high as wacky sci-fi and giant monster smackdowns combine to make for an entertaining albeit ludicrous monster mash.

The saying “go big or go home” wholly applies to Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Director Adam Wingard turns everything up to 11 with this fifth entry in the Monsterverse, which is quite the feat considering the colossal heights of roaring wackiness this franchise has already delivered. The results are a mixed bag, with impressive large-scale entertainment countered by ridiculous writing, a Transformers movie in a monkey suit yet with more personality.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire begins with extremely territorial kaiju Godzilla laying waste to monsters who dare stomp on his realm. Kong, meanwhile, is living a lonely existence in the Hollow Earth, only to find a new threat in the form of colossal-primate Skar King who has his sights on world domination. Kong must convince Godzilla to team-up and defeat this new enemy.

Observing all of this is the MONARCH corporation, and much like Godzilla vs. Kong the human characters have their moments to shine amongst the monster chaos: Dan Stevens steals scenes with charismatic ease as a kaiju vet; Brian Tyree Henry is good, if not a tad over the top, in his returning role of a conspiracy theorist; and Rebecca Hall tries to instil some depth to the proceedings (bless her heart) yet can’t quite gel with the hyper kinetic tone that Wingard has established.

It is the monsters, of course, that are the real stars of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, and for those who like their giant-monster movies extra big and very loud, this is the film for you. The creature designs are excellent, as is the continuous world-building of the Hollow Earth that lives up to its Jurassic-Park-on-LSD pedigree.

Five films in, the question is where does the Monsterverse go now that Wingard has thrown every trick, roar, stomp, and scenes of kaiju-on-kaiju violence that he can muster onto the screen? Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is a lot to take on, and there is a big risk that audiences just might have had their fill of this monkey business. Roar.