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KONG: SKULL ISLAND (CERT 12A; 118MINS) Set in the 1970s, it attaches an A-list cast to a B-movie plot that offers yet another uninspired rehash of the original King Kong with some extra

elements borrowed from Jurassic Park. All that truly distinguishes the film is its extraordinary special effects. Skull Island is an uncharted dot in the South Pacific where God “did not

finish creation”. Surrounded by a perpetual storm system that discourages human intruders, it has become an obsession for scientist Bill Randa (John Goodman). He secures government funding

and military assistance for an expedition and the assembled cast grows to include photojournalist Mason Weaver (Brie Larson), vengeance-seeking Vietnam veteran Preston Packard (Samuel L

Jackson) and debonair special forces operative-turned-bounty hunter James Conrad (Tom Hiddleston). They all head for the fabled island in gung-ho fashion although why anyone thinks it is a

bright idea to set off massive explosives all over the place is anyone’s guess. Not only is the mighty Kong angered but vicious prehistoric Skullcrawlers are woken from their slumber and are

now set on eating anyone who gets in their way. What begins as a scientific expedition soon becomes a fight for survival with plenty of tense moments. In the original King Kong in 1933, the

poor beast clung for dear life to the top of the Empire State Building as flimsy planes shot him down. In this version, Kong appears to be the size of the Empire State Building and can

destroy state-of-the-art helicopters with a swat of his wrist. My, how he has grown. He is also the good guy here since the entire survival of the island and all who inhabit it depends on

his ability to kill those nasty Skullcrawlers. Kong looks amazing and the entire island is like a zoo from the land that time forgot with its collection of giant water buffalo, mutant

spiders and a slippery octopus. Kong is a match for all of them and there is a considerable amount of blood for a 12A certificate. None of the actors can steal Kong’s thunder. John C Reilly

fares best, adding comic relief as Hank Marlow, a combination of Ben Gunn and Robinson Crusoe who has been stranded on the island since the Second World War. Samuel L Jackson plays a

cardboard character and Tom Hiddleston appears to have stepped from the pages of an old Littlewoods catalogue as he strikes manly poses and looks lost. The human element of Kong: Skull

Island is the least impressive aspect of the film but when it sticks to the monkey business, it still makes for a decent adventure yarn. _VEREDICT: 3/5_ THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES (CERT 12A;

104MINS) Any fan of Dame Joan Collins or Pauline Collins (no relation) will enjoy The Time Of Their Lives, a sentimental tearjerker in which the two game veterans enter Thelma And Louise

territory. Dame Joan is perfectly cast as Helen, a bitchy, self-centred 1960s glamour puss hoping to avoid spending her final days in a care home while there are shades of Shirley Valentine

in Pauline’s role as Priscilla, a downtrodden housewife with a grumpy husband and a tragic past. The women meet by chance when Priscilla is accidentally trapped on a bus containing Helen’s

fellow care home residents. They bond instantly, hijack the bus and soon the dynamic duo are off on an adventure to sunny France where Helen plans to attend the funeral of an old lover. On

the road they discover friendship, a touch of romance (courtesy of Italian smoothie Franco Nero) and some home truths. Pauline Collins is sweet and touching as Priscilla and Dame Joan

captures the blithe spirit and underlying vulnerability of fallen star Helen. And there is a real lump-in-the-throat moment when Dame Joan sings Who Can I Turn To? co-written, of course, by

her real-life second husband Anthony Newley. It is her most demanding role and her best performance in a very long while. _VEREDICT: 3/5_ TRAILER: THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES I.T. (CERT 15;

94MINS) A deranged high-tech stalker proves no match for old school, two-fisted technophobe Pierce Brosnan in I.T., an uninspired thriller. Brosnan is as watchable as ever playing

high-flying business tycoon Mike Regan. When his office computer system goes down, Mike is only too happy for temp Ed Porter (James Frecheville) to save the day. He then invites Ed to

upgrade the technology in his lavish home, not guessing how creepy Ed is even though the audience realised it from his first appearance. When Ed becomes obsessed with Mike’s teenage daughter

Kaitlyn (Stefanie Scott), he uses his control of the technology to attack the Regan household. None of this is very surprising and Brosnan is so charismatic that Ed doesn’t stand a chance

of emerging as the hero. _VEREDICT: 2/5_ PR Fans of Dame Joan Collins or Pauline Collins will enjoy The Time Of Their Lives CATFIGHT (CERT 15; 95MINS) Deadly rivals never forgive and never

forget in Catfight, a strident, cartoon-like black comedy in which the passing years are marked by blood loss and hospital stays. Veronica (Sandra Oh) leads a life of carefree luxury funded

by her husband’s dubious business interests. She attends a cocktail party where one of the waitresses is Ashley (Anne Heche), a former college friend now struggling to make her mark as an

artist. Old wounds are quickly ripped open and the two are soon knocking seven bells out of each other. Their war of attrition continues over five years of vicious brawls but the mixture of

sledgehammer satire and brutal comedy is hard to stomach. _VEREDICT: 2/5_ THE CHAMBER (CERT 15; 87MINS) The Chamber tries to make the most of its claustrophobic setting and its characters’

fight for survival but is sunk by a weak script and a limited budget. An American special ops unit has commandeered a mini-submarine and its Swedish pilot Mats (Johannes Kuhnke) to undertake

a hush-hush mission off the coast of North Korea. An explosion leaves the vessel upside down at the bottom of the ocean with water pouring in and no obvious means of escape. It sounds

exciting but the reality is repetitive and underdeveloped. _VEREDICT: 2/5_ DANCER(CERT 12A; 85MINS) Ukrainian-born Sergei Polunin was the youngest-ever principal dancer at the Royal Ballet.

He was athletic, graceful, naturally gifted and prone to self-destructive behaviour. Dancer charts a life in which Polunin and his family have paid a heavy personal price for a success that

he may not even have wanted. Steven Cantor’s documentary offers a revealing portrait of a troubled, charismatic soul who still seems most alive when he is dancing. _VEREDICT: 4/5_