Pretty good in spite of the lizard fights

Rating: 6/10 (2 April 2017)

I was pleasantly surprised by Kong. I expected a movie dominated by endless CGI creatures – but was only about 1/3 correct. And speaking of thirds, the first third of the movie borrows heavily from Apocalypse Now, lacking only the smell of napalm in the morning.
The movie features a diverse and interesting cast, and (SPOILER ALERT) you never know who is going to get killed off next. John C. Reilly is easily the most interesting character, followed by Samuel Jackson and John Goodman.
Tian Jing has a fair amount of screen time, but only 11 lines in the entire movie. Since the Brie Larson is the only other woman in the cast, I suspect Jing was added to offset some of the testosterone.
The movie is visually quite clever and the CGI is mostly in service of the plot. Except when the giant lizards show up, including in an extended fight scene that literally refuses to die.
See it now if you like this kind of movie. Otherwise, wait for the DVD and just fast-forward past the lizards.