Five years after Godzilla defeated King Ghidorah, the Monarch company is monitoring Kong in a giant dome on Skull Island. Kong is visited by Jia (Kaylee Hottle), the last Iwi native of the island and the adopted daughter of Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall). Jia is deaf and communicates with Kong in sign language. An employee of Apex Cybernetics and the host of a Titan conspiracy podcast, Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry), believes he has found sinister activities at the Pensacola facility of Apex. But Godzilla suddenly attacks the facility and Bernie stumbles on a huge device during the rampage. Madison Russell (Millie Bobby Brown), a listener, enlists her nerdy friend Josh Valentine (Julian Dennison) to investigate. These three want to get in and find out the truth.
The CEO of Apex, Walter Simmons (Demian Bichir) recruits Nathan Lind (Alexander Skarsgard) a former Monarch scientist who believes in the Hollow Earth Theory, to find the power source below, in the homeworld of the Titans. Since his brother died there, he is reluctant, but agrees when Simmons shows him that Apex has developed vehicles capable of withstanding the gravitational forces there.
Nathan convinces Ilene to let Kong guide them through the hollow Earth from Antarctica. Nathan, Ilene, and an Apex team led by Simmons’ daughter Maia (Eliza Gonzales) board a modified barge escorted by the U.S. Navy which carries the sedated Kong. Godzilla attacks the convoy, nearly kills Kong in a spectacular battle, and leaves. Kong is then airlifted to the entrance to Hollow Earth, and Jia convinces him to enter the tunnel as the others follow in their special craft.
Madison and Josh sneak into Monarch and find Bernie, who joins up with them. Through basic dumb luck, they penetrate deep into the place and find Mechagodzilla, which is telepathically controlled by Ben Serizawa (Shun Oguri) through the neural networks of the severed left head of Ghidorah. CEO Simmons intends to harness the energy from Hollow Earth to bring Mechagodzilla to full power and—you know—control the world.
Inside the Hollow Earth, Kong and the team find the Kong ancestral throne room, and an axe made of Godzilla dorsal plates. The Apex team sends its signature back to their Hong Kong base, attracting the attention of Godzilla. He uses his atomic breath to drive a shaft down to the Kong throne room. Maia and the Apex team try to escape, but their ship is crushed by Kong. Kong engages Godzilla in the middle of Hong Kong as Ilene, Jia, and Nathan watch helplessly. Godzilla overpowers Kong and leaves him for dead.
The interlopers--Madison, Josh, and Bernie--are caught by Security and taken to Walter, who pontificates in megalomaniac fashion and activates Mechagodzilla. It is now possessed by Ghidorah’s consciousness and kills Walter to start with, then electrocutes Ren and engages Godzilla in battle over the neon-lit skyscrapers of Hong Kong, overwhelming him with sheer power. Nathan revives the dying Kong and Jia convinces him to help Godzilla. Mechagodzilla seems to be overcoming both, but Josh short-circuits him. Godzilla charges up Kong with his atomic breath and Kong destroys Mechagodzilla. Godzilla and Kong agree to a truce and go their separate ways, leaving Hong Kong in ruins.
The film was directed by Adam Wingard. The pandemic delayed production for a while and finally it was released in theaters and on HBO Max It received positive reviews from critics regarding the visual effects and the action, but criticism regarding the human characters. If you’ve read the synopsis you know that there are a lot of characters and you shouldn’t wonder that they received short shrift when the whole point was the conflict between Kong, Godzilla, and Mechagodzilla. Many of the characters were quite likable, particularly little Jia and the three crazy conspirators that somehow made their way into the center of Monarch, and Alexander Skarsgard is always watchable, but the important characters were Godzilla and Kong, both of which had distinct personalities. The film was a hit and there is supposed to be a sequel in 2024.The writing room team was large and included Michael J. Straczynski.
Michael Dougherty, who directed Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and Zach Shields who co-wrote that screenplay were there to make sure the sequel followed the earlier film. A balance between the massive monster brawls and small touching moments of human/monster bonding had to be achieved. When the trailer appeared, Wikizilla.org crashed. Director Adam Wingard enjoyed the part of his preparation that included watching every King Kong and Godzilla movie ever made. The first cut of the film was five hours long, but it was cut down to under two hours. Wingard does not believe in director’s cuts. He thought of Godzilla as the wrestler The Undertaker and Kong as Bruce Willis’s John McClane. The big battles were beautiful and well-lit. Hong Kong in the final battle is completely authentic. When Kong Rips off Megagodzilla’s head and spine and holds it up, it is a reference to the film Predator.