Kong: Skull Island

Late last night (early this morning?) I saw an early screening of Apocalypse Now Kong: Skull Island and it was quite the spectacle.  At the end of the Vietnam War, a team of scientists (John Goodman and Corey Hawkins) armed with satellite images mount an expedition to an uncharted island to prove the existence of heretofore unknown monsters.  Along for the ride is a military escort led by an officer bitter that the war is over who may or may not be insane (Samuel L. Jackson), a tracker (Tom Hiddleston), and a photojournalist (Brie Larson).  Helicopters, with speakers blaring music (not the only reference to Apocalypse Now), begin dropping explosives on the island in order to draw out the monsters and are immediately attacked by a giant primate known as Kong.  These scenes are absolutely relentless, with unbelievable effects, and I was holding my breath as Kong swatted helicopters out of the air, broke them in two, and stomped on soldiers as they fled.  Several scattered groups survive and one of them encounters a pilot who has been marooned on the island since World War II (a hilarious John C. Reilly who provides much comic relief).  As Jackson's character vows revenge on Kong for killing his men, Reilly's character informs them that there are other monsters (in the form of these strange lizard-like creatures) on the island and Kong is their only protection which leads to conflict and then to an epic battle.  I have to admit that, while these scenes are also pretty exhilarating, I was less engaged because they seem to go on forever.  Just when I think Kong has finally gotten the better of the lizard, it crawls back for more.  Also, I really had to suspend a lot of disbelief to buy that Kong could tell the difference between those who meant to harm him and those who who wanted his help.  Having said that, I thought this movie was a lot of fun which is something that I didn't necessarily expect (I despised Peter Jackson's version).  Reilly and Jackson are great (although Hiddleston's and Larson's characters are a bit one-dimensional) and the action scenes are spectacular (I saw it in IMAX 3D).  I loved the music, especially "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath as the helicopters storm the island and "Run Through the Jungle" by Creedence Clearwater Revival as the soldiers, well, run though the jungle.  I liked it and I am sure that fans of monster movies will love it (the group of twenty-something guys that I walked out of the theater with discussed their plans to see it several more times over the weekend).

Note:  There is an end of credits scene setting up the sequel in the so-called MonsterVerse.