A movie review by: Lee Sonogan

(2017) 1h58mins/Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Preston Packard: It’s time to show Kong that man is king!

A reboot of the films franchise. IMDB describes this movie as a team of scientists explore an uncharted island in the Pacific, venturing into the domain of the mighty Kong, and must fight to escape a primal Eden. With a budget of $185 million, it made 566.3 million at the box office. The movie starts Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L Jackson, John Goodman and John C. Reilly and more interesting actors.

In September 2015, Legendary moved Kong: Skull Island from Universal to Warner Bros., which sparked media speculation that Godzilla and King Kong will appear in a film together. In October 2015, Legendary confirmed that they would unite Godzilla and King Kong in Godzilla vs. Kong, set for a May 29, 2020, release date. Legendary plans to create a shared cinematic franchise “centered around Monarch,” that “brings together Godzilla and Legendary’s King Kong in an ecosystem of other giant super-species, both classic and new.”

This film was released 12 years after Peter Jackson’s King Kong in 2005, 41 years after Dino De Laurentiis’ King Kong in 1976, 84 years after the original black and white 1933 version, and 55 and 50 years after the Toho Kong movies: King Kong vs. Godzilla in 1962 and King Kong Escapes in 1967.

Sets were built at Kualoa Ranch, Hawaii, near the same filming locations as Jurassic World in 2015. Portions of the movie were filmed in the northern portion of Vietnam, including the famous Halong Bay. Peter Jackson recommended Guillermo del Toro direct the film during development.

Full of big actors and a re-imagining of a classic story. It starts sorta slow while it explains the plot of Skull Island. Kong’s appearance is based on his 1933 counterpart. And is a beast. A time piece, it becomes action packed and different when they arrive on the island. All characters join together on the island and realise that a giant monkey lives there that is big as a building and more. The CGI for Kong and baddies is excellent as much as the location imagery in the film. The ending consists of Kong a large skull crawler fight while the remaining humans try to survive. I recommend this movie to fans of Kong and want to see a lesser version of Peter Jacksons adaption with a different style and flair.

PS – Samuel L Jackson is a good actor no matter what he is in.

6.3/10

Hank Marlow: Kong’s a pretty good king. Keeps to himself, mostly. This is his home, we’re just guests. But you don’t go into someone’s house and start dropping bombs, unless you’re picking a fight.