Monster Mania

Rating: 6/10 (13 February 2019)

Well, if you are thinking about watching Kong: Skull Island, you probably have a pretty good idea of what to expect. And except one thing (no, they don't go to New York and climb skyscrapers - that is pretty obvious from the start) you are probably right.
You get one really big ape, a lot of other really big animals, a few monsters that come straight out of some other horror movie (they are really familiar - but for the life of me I cannot recall from where). And you get a dozen or so misplaced (regular sized (well except some egos maybe)) human beings with a lot of guns. The humans are misplaced because they are really out of their depth here and don't know what they are doing (except Hank Marlow (John C Rielly) but noone really listens to him anyway). Of course some one comes up with the great idea to kill Kong, and the hunt is on. And you probably already know how that goes as well.
Kong: Skull Island is not for those who wants thrills in surprises. If you know a little about Kong lore, you probably can tell most of the story before watching. On the other hand, it doesn't disappoint those expectations either. It delivers exactly what is promised. This is certainly no masterpiece, but it is an entertaining ride for the full two hours. One thing should be said though, a lot of people die in a lot of gruesome ways, I actually expected a "horror" tag thrown in as a sub-genre. It wasn't but wouldn't be misplaced. Be warned if you dislike such scenes.
A few mentions about the actors. Samuel L Jackson is like the rest of the movie, as advertised. He has made his own niche (and does it good) and plays it once again. John C Rielly, mostly seen in comedies actually does a good role of the long lost/trapped flyer Marlow. It started out shaky with Rielly pulling some bad joke in his first scene, and I was afraid that he was about to be the designated comic sidekick (which had been quite out of place in the movie) that would have ruined the movie. But the character shaped up and became something much more and Rielly performed well. Fun to see Hiddleston not being Loke, this was a role that fit him well. Hope to see more of him in the future. And the same of Brie Larson (which is almost guaranteed as she is cast as Captain Marvel).
You shouldn't think or analyze these movies too much, but there is one big question that bothers me. Why, if you have helicopters with range weapons (guns), why do you not stay out of reach of the giant ape? Well, we seen it before and we will see it again.