The new Kong film could've easily lost an hour and still been a fine
film. Half hour in the first third, about 10-15 minutes on Skull
Island, and 20 or so minutes in the last act. Certain scenes just go
on forever! Enough already. You can definitely see the studio
letting P.J. do pretty much whatever he wants in a lot of this
picture. He spent too much time patting himself on the back. The
Bronto stampede is twice as long as it needed to be, and the camera in
this and many other SPFX shots is just way too close to the action to
really see just what the hell is going on. Back it up a bit guys! I
realize that by keeping the camera moving it allows many of the CGI
shots to fool the eye easier, but c'mon! I felt like I needed
Dramamine in some sequences.

What worked worked well. What sucked, really sucked. Sorry for all
you Jack Black fans out there. I've never liked the man, and his
unfocused/confused take on Denham confirms my feelings that he is a
no-talent that for reasons I can't fathom, has garnered acclaim that
is totally undeserved. (I'd rather have seen Bruce Campbell do the
part.) I was left missing good old Robert Armstrong in the worst way.
The new Driscoll was decent, and Ms. Watts was strong as Ann Darrow,
but they all seemed rather disconnected through much of the show. The
strongest performances were from the crew of the Venture. I loved the
black guy (1st mate?) and the young boy, and thought it both a shame
and a waste that more wasn't done there to develop their characters
and relationship. When the black guy died, I didn't feel bad, just
bummed that there went one of the more interesting characters in the film.

Kong was good, but didn't really have much character. He was, to me,
too natural. It was too much like watching a real gorilla in a
National Geographic special. By making him less anthropomorphic, I
didn't really feel for him. There were moments (the play scene with
Ann early on), but not enough to sell me completely. I may be in the
vast minority here, but I was far, far more moved when the '76 Kong
died. I cried then, but I didn't shed any tears for this CGI monkey.
I must say though, that he looked pretty real in most of the scenes
he was in. (And hey! that T-Rex fight was way-cool, but too short,
especially the final confrontation.)

Overall, a solid 'B' from me.

What may be the best thing about this new Kong, for me, is the hope
that it will spawn a new wave of giant monster movies in the next few
years, as other studios rush to cash in and ride the wave.

My $.02 (FWIW)
-JN