Does what it says on the tin.

Rating: 7/10 (1 June 2020)

Set in the early 1970s, a team of scientists, backed up by armed forces, venture to a newly discovered island in the Pacific. All of them, bar one, think they're going for geological or scientific study but it's not long before they come face to face with the island's bigger inhabitants.
'Kong : Skull Island' does what it says on the tin. It's about a huge monster, with other huge monsters, on a mysterious island containing spectacular and foreboding landscapes, and how human beings who we don't care about, get eaten, squashed, blown up and human beings we do care about manage to escape to tell the fantastical tale to an unsuspecting world.
All of the above is what you go for and all of the above is what you get when you watch this. One criticism is that a little more character development would have been welcome. Some of the cast feel like they're giving lacklustre performances here. The only one who really grabs me is John C. Reilly, playing a Ben Gunn type character who has been marooned away from civilisation for many years. His craziness and openness makes him likable but Reilly also adds the right amount of pathos when his character reveals his thoughts about the wife he left behind and the son that he's never seen.
The special effects are good and I did find myself rooting for Kong in some of the fight scenes, with a self satisfied, smug look on my face when he wins the day (that's not a spoiler because it's a given that Kong will survive and win, he's Kong). The fight scenes are good although I don't think they're quite as good as the ones in the most recent Godzilla.
Overall, a decent effort but I expect better from the next Kong movie.