A good looking monster movie

Rating: 6/10 (29 March 2017)

There's not much more to this than "a good looking monster movie". More specifically it's a movie about people stuck in an unexplored habitat where they face pre-historic monsters. It's not really a remake of King Kong, because it leaves out most (if not all) iconic moments from the previous versions, and it also tells a story completely of its own.
The highlight of the movie is, beyond a doubt, the visuals. There are some glorious shots in this movie, and perhaps the best ones being those that are obviously influenced by previous media set in the Vietnam war era. The creature design is also really neat. King Kong is massive, and he's also definitely not an ape as we know them. They've taken more inspiration from the old doll (from the first movie), than the more natural looking Kong from Jackson's remake. And it works really well! There's other creatures as well, some of them quite neat and interesting. Some of them I would have loved to see more of, but the "skullcrawlers" (which are highlights as an important enemy) are disappointing design wise. They look like a generic baddie in a monster film.
The plot itself is OK, but there's nothing really special or interesting about it. There are some great performances, but also some talent that is completely wasted in roles with hardly any airtime.