I've never said that name out loud before, it sounds stupid now that I say it

Rating: 7/10 (3 July 2017)

Color me surprised, as Kong: Skull Island is better than it had any right to be - meaning it's harmless popcorn fun rather than unwatchable tripe. Sure, it's dumber than a brood of drunk chickens, but I don't walk into a Kaiju movie expecting Krzysztof Kieslowski.
Effects are neat, with convincing CGI renditions of the titular ape and the rest of the island's monstrous fauna. Script is serviceable; nobody is going to win writing awards for this, but at least it tries to develop a few characters other than the male and female leads (Hiddleston and Larson) - they're broad, but you can tell them apart.
The cast is rounded out by an exceptional trio of veterans: John Goodman, Samuel L. Jackson and John C. Reilly. If the first two are somewhat subdued (too professional to phone it in but below their par), Reilly steals the movie as the WW2 pilot marooned on the Island for thirty years.
Bonus points for an acceptable 120 minutes running length, which is short for the bloated standard of modern blockbusters, and for avoiding a uselessly complicated plot - walking in, I was dreading a profusion of stupid MacGuffins, Pirates of the Caribbean-style (find the Magic Stone and the Ancient Staff to tame Kong in the Temple of Evil...). Nothing of the sort, the goal is simply to get out of Skull Island uneaten. Thanks.
So? It's a watchable action/adventure with giant monsters. If this is your kind of thing, shut your higher cerebral functions off and open wide.
6,5/10