Not as bad or as good as some other reviews say, but definitely worth a watch !!

Rating: 8/10 (24 June 2017)

Good lord, i get so frustrated when i see people give bad reviews to movies like this because there are 'plot holes' or the 'characters behave stupidly'. It's a movie about a giant gorilla.....a giant gorilla. The name says as much. So, if you could not wrap your head around that premise and went in expecting a 'grounded-in-reality' plot line, then you're the one being stupid.
And as far as realism and coherent storytelling go, it is still far better than Peter Jackson's version from 2005 (Sorry, Peter, love your other work i.e LotR).
At the same time it is also not good enough to warrant a 10 on IMDb from me, primarily because it ultimately lacks a certain 'wow' factor which you need to have if you're trying to reboot a franchise for the 3rd or 4th time.
So what's good about it ?
Well, it's entertaining, for sure ! You have all the regular capers that you would expect from a giant monster flick such as a 'tall-as-a-building' Kong swatting down military helicopters like they are flies, thumping his chest while roaring and a few other monsters thrown into the mix for Kong to fight (which makes for a few excellently shot set pieces in the film).
The acting ? Well, not Tom Hiddleston's best work, somehow i cant see him as an action hero, but he delivers a solid performance nonetheless. Brie Larson's character is thankfully not your typical damsel in distress that you would expect, although her character is saved from death a couple of times in the movie. However a diversion from the regular plot where Kong is supposed to kidnap the most good looking girl who eventually falls for him is a welcome one. Sam Jackson basically plays Sam Jackson who is furious at Kong for pwning his helicopter squadron and is on a 'Captain Ahab' type revenge quest; and he does it well. John C Riley's character was a pleasant surprise and they have given his character some good closure at the end.
And the plot itself ? All i'll say is that it's a basic plot, good enough for a monster movie and actually quite coherently played out on the screen. Like i said before, don't go in expecting realism from a giant monkey movie.
So what's bad about it ? Well, only that it ultimately does not have enough new material to be a ground-breaking reboot.
So, all-in-all.... Definitely worth a watch! Not only entertaining enough on it's own but also a solid start to what will hopefully go on to become a very cool 'Monster-verse'.
Oh yes, what about the 'Monster-verse' ?! Well, be sure to watch the post-credits scene :-) :-)