Five years on from the events of Godzilla the shady Monarch organisation have established Titan research sites throughout the globe keeping the monsters dormant. But when eco terrorist Jonah Alan (Charles Dance) captures a device to set them free perhaps the only place to turn is the greatest Titan of them all.

King of the Monsters is now the third film in Warner Brothers faltering Monsterverse cinematic universe. Gareth Edwards 2014 Godzilla was much maligned for not showing enough monster, although I recall genuinely enjoying its slow reveal as I felt it gave the monster fights more punch. Kong: Skull Island and this film have done everything possible to rectify this complaint unfortunately with deteriorating returns. Whilst Skull Island was reasonably entertaining this is more of a cacophonous beautiful mess.

The plot is filled with too numerous flimsily sketched characters to care about. The main human plot revolves around a scientific family who lost a family member during the original film. Mark (Kyle Chandler) and Dr. Emma Russell (Vera Farmiga) no longer see eye to eye whilst their daughter Madison (Millie Bobby Brown) still loves them both whilst being torn between them. Scientists Dr. Ishiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) and Dr. Vivienne Graham (Sally Hawkins) return as the only characters to feature in all three films. Whilst Ziyi Zhang, Bradley Whitford, Thomas Middleditch and O’Shea Jackson Jr. all turn up as inconsequential comic relief or exposition spouts. In fact one of the worst aspects of the film is the script. Whenever a character speaks it is only to deliver exposition, comic relief, a grandiose statement or a tag line perfect for the trailer. Sometimes they manage more than one of these at once. It’s tedious and it begins to grate over the 132 minute running time.

But what about the monsters I hear you cry? Well here King of the Monsters lives up to its name. There are many monsters having many fights throughout the film. And there are moments when it looks breathtaking. I’m sure there are numerous scenes where a freeze frame would make a stunning poster for your wall. But it never seems like enough given the weak and painfully dull plot.

Given my disappointment with the likes of the Pacific Rim films and my preference for the 2014 Godzilla over this and Kong: Skull Island perhaps the depth of these monster films aren’t for me. My suggestion is that you watch Colossal instead.