KONG: SKULL ISLAND is what it is, and what it is is a big, dumb monster brawl. The just-post-Vietnam War setting is just window dressing to the standard, laboured story setup. While the creatures are impressively realised, clearly nobody has given this ecosystem beyond cursory thought: some beasties are big, others aren’t, trees and mountains don’t seem any more verdant or towering to support the ecosystem. But switch your brain to low power mode and when things get going it’s a lot more fun, with gruesome demises of flunkies (plenty available as the helicopters they arrive on seem to breed between scenes) and brutal ape-on-lizard-thing combat. You’d be fully justified to ask for characters with more than one defining trait apiece and a more memorable script, the best line being from a soldier worrying about riding in a makeshift boat: “This thing looks like it’s made out of pure tetanus”. At least this occasionally cracks a smile, unlike GODZILLA. SSP