Kong: Skull Island (Rated T)
Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, John C. Reilly
Genre: Fantasy/ Science Fiction
Dwight's Rating: 2 Stars

At the heart of it, this is ultimately a deeply tragic tale!
No, not the story of King Kong - the giant ape who unfortunately encounters the Earth's most dangerous beings (humans), and winds up losing his freedom and life as a result.
Rather, it's the tragic tale of the career of Brie Larson. One year removed from winning an Academy Award for best actress in the amazing Oscar-nominated film "Room", here she is making faces of shock and awe next to an oversized, computer-animated simian and other freakish prehistoric creatures in "Kong: Skull Island" - a National Geographic TV special on steroids (or even more potent narcotics).
Alas, Larson is not alone in these tragic circumstances. And like some of this film's hideous monsters, this tragic tale has wide-reaching tentacles that have captured several other notable actors, who must have either lost bets or are getting significant tax right-offs for their appearances here. John Goodman, who was so excellent last year in the fantastic "10 Cloverfield Lane", is wasted in a role that could have gone to a day player. And Samuel L. Jackson, who more and more seems to be playing the exact same character in every movie, is back with an even angrier version of that same angry guy.
And speaking of same, haven't we seen this movie before? Not just the Kong movies - the original or the remake or the other remake or all the spinoffs and their spinoffs - but also when it was called "Godzilla" or "Jurassic Park" or last year's "The Legend of Tarzan".
In this "Kong: Skull Island" version, set in the 1970s following the end of the Vietnam war, scientists, soldiers and adventurers unite to explore a mythical, uncharted island in the Pacific Ocean. Cut off from everything they know, they venture into the domain of the mighty Kong, igniting the ultimate battle between man and nature. As their mission of discovery soon becomes one of survival, they must fight to escape from a primal world where humanity does not belong.
So essentially, this is the story of Kong, but without the always-insane plan to capture him and put him on display in New York City. The expedition, with its scientists and soldiers and adventurers, is massive, and with so many members it's hard to keep track of all of the characters being torn to shreds by the island's creatures.
Things aren't all bad though. The film looks good. The freakish animals are really something - skin-crawling in many regards. When someone gets killed, the abundance of exposed guts and gore is realistically disgusting. The fighting scenes between Kong and the many monsters are quite...um... great... I guess. What else do you say when you watch a supersized gorilla and lizards fight to the death for what seems like an eternity? Fun times? Well, sure!
But again, unfortunately, it's the human cast that is wasted and wasting our time. The screenwriter is to blame - screenwriters actually. There are three of them. And that is painfully clear, as it seems these writers decided to each take on a different role in crafting the story and must have had few interactions with each other. If ever a film was written by committee, this was it.
As such, different actors must have got different instructions on what "Kong: Skull Island" was all about. British actor Tom Hiddleston, who is one of the lead heroes, must be campaigning to be the next James Bond. That has to be why he's so "Mr. Serious-Business-Action-Hero" here. And some internal memo about this being an epic war flick would explain why Jackson is just a little too intense and over-eager in this role.
Perhaps a less uptight approach to the monsters-on-the-loose dilemma like that of Chris Pratt's character in 2015's "Jurassic Park" would have been more appropriate, especially as writer number two decided he was writing for a full-on comedy. John C. Reilly ("Step Brothers" and "Chicago") is tasked with providing the comic relief. And he's actually great. But the massive tonal shifts between scenes with Reilly and with Hiddleston/Jackson feel exceptionally bizarre.
Not helping the situation is that the third writer must have been told this was an homage to B-movie horror films. So, Oscar-winner Larson and Goodman and others are left to ham it up for the camera, looking mind-blown and terrified at all times.
Striking a better balance, are two stars from "Straight Outta Compton". They're not playing characters from that movie (though that would have been interesting). Instead Corey Hawkins and Jason Mitchell (Dr. Dre and Easy-E, respectively, in "Compton") as a geologist and a soldier, respectively, are the most rational and realistic in their responses to this ridiculous scenario.
While Mitchell's character - the stereotypical wisecracker from every single war movie ever made - is also mainly there to lighten the mood, and at first seems bound to soon end up in the belly of a beast, his one-liners give way to something approaching the moral compass of the group and the film.
Yes, moral compass! There is a lot going on here!!
So what is "Kong: Skull Island"? Two hours of watching people and animals die in a serious war/action film but at times-madcap comedy? Yes! Think of it as "Independence Day" with giant monsters instead of aliens, or "Transformers" with giant monsters instead of alien robots, or any Marvel or DC-Comic movie with giant monsters instead of aliens or robots or mutants or super villains. You get the drift.
Also, apparently, you should sit through the credits for an interesting post-credits scene. I was too eager to get out of the theater, so I missed it. But hint: there'll be more of these movies.
And I really hope this Internet rumor is a mistake. But somebody is planning to do a remake of "King Kong vs. Godzilla", the wacky and immensely-popular Japanese film from the 1960s. This one may be called, get ready, "Godzilla vs. Kong". Wow!
Not knowing when to call it quits; perhaps the greatest tragedy of all!

o Dwight Strachan is the host/producer of " Morning Blend" on Guardian Radio. He is a television producer and writer, and an avid TV history and film buff. Email dwight@nasguard.com and follow him on twitter @morningblend969.

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