The gags largely work...

Rating: 8/10 (29 December 2018)

As a reworking of King Kong that is also trying to set up a bunch of Godzilla knockoffs this film is better than the concept deserves. The direction and screenplay keep the story moving largely by pepping in vaguely satirical barbs about the situation and genre. It makes the film rather fun and the cheese delectably cheesy. Sure the film is glorified B-movie that mixes Apocalypse Now for ill-considered reasons but boy was the adventure exciting, the vistas engaging and the fights brutal.
Reilly's Hank is easily the best part. He is funny and hits the perfect tone for this sort of film. And the character's fate is almost moving which isn't what one should expect from a film like this. The Cub fandom of Hank was a nice a clever touch. I sure hope the character lived to see 2016.
The art direction/creature design is good. Skull Island has been done several times, and similar lost world environments have been created. This one stands out because of mixing in more types of creatures and the Skulls (lizards) are a striking design. The native tribe of Skull Island has a neat look as well; the film largely avoids the implicit racism that King Kong always seems to embody. This was a really fun adventure. I am glad I took it.