Kong: Skull Island Review

Part Nostalgia, part Apocalypse Now, all action. The fabled Kong is heading back to the big screen as the second entry of Legendary's Monsterverse, and it promises to leave an impression. Granted you're first impression is the awe-inspiring feeling of the first Jurassic Park, followed by a lingering Moby Dick feeling, but Kong proves once more why he's King.

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.

Set in the 1970s, long before the latest Godzilla, Bill Randa (John Goodman) puts together a team to explore the uncharted Skull Island before the Russians or anyone else finds out about its existence. The Island has stayed hidden for years due to an odd storm pattern that has kept it off the maps until now. Randa knows that there are monsters out there, and he's willing to bet his life and everyone of his crew to prove their existence.

Among his group is Military Lt. Colonel Preston Packard (Samuel L. Jackson) who's itching for action, the almost too posh to be believable mercenary James Conrad (Tom Hiddleston), and war photographer (Brie Larson). Along the way they find Capt. Marlow (John C. Reilly), the pilot who crashed landed on the island nearly thirty years previously.

While Kong does have its issues, I'm looking at you Samuel L. Jackson with your Captain Ahab tendencies, what it does do well is in your face action. The film's first glimpse of Kong is just enough to wet the palate and leave the audience wanting more, and more they definitely get. The CG in the film is pretty mind-blowing, making Kong and the other monsters more impressive than ever before. And the camera work isn't too shabby either.

From slow motion shots of the helicopter rotor blades to the Iwi Village to the fast pace chase by the Skullcrawlers, there's no shortage of amazing shots. Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts created an amazing world, where the God-like Kong reigns supreme. Sure he's less lovable and human than he has been in past iterations, but you still can't help but to root for him. 

The storyline is well-executed, and gruesome at times, and the scene after the credits is the perfect bridge between Skull Island and Godzilla. Now the only question left is how Tom Hiddleston can remain in the franchise when the pair meet head on in the present day.

Kong: Skull Island hits theaters March 10^th!