Kong: Skull Island             2 ½ stars

Kong: Skull Island reimagines the classic Kong story with some significant revisions.  First instead of the setting being in the 30’s, this time it is set in the seventies right after America’s withdrawal from Vietnam. (Thus the anti-war references). Second, instead of being perhaps 30 feet tall, this Kong is the size of a skyscraper, thus eliminating any possibility of capturing the beast.  There are several spectacular action sequences that depend heavily on special effects that feature various giant creatures attacking and devouring various members of the cast while others devise clever means of surviving.  The scientists of this team are accompanied by a small army that seem to be equipped for all-out war until they meet the featured ape who easily dispatches everything the military can through at him.  The characters are mostly two dimensional other than John C. Reilly’s Hank, a soldier who has been left behind on Skull Island since the end of World War II.  Reilly gives the movie a much needed dose of comic release.  Other notable cast members are Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman, Brie Larson and Shea Whigham.  Kong: Skull Island is mostly an updated version of Land of the Lost and not a great one at that.  Based on the end scene of the movie we can probably count on there being another in a series of these lost monster movies.