“We are dealing with a monster from a bygone era.”

"...a diverse team of scientists, soldiers and adventurers uniting to explore a mythical, uncharted island in the Pacific, as dangerous as it is beautiful. Cut off from everything they know, the team ventures into the domain of the mighty Kong, igniting the ultimate battle between man and nature. As their mission of discovery becomes one of survival, they must fight to escape a primal Eden in which humanity does not belong.."

I'll admit something upfront. When it comes to monsters, I'm more of Godzilla man, than a Kong guy. Been that was since the days of watching Creature Double Feature on Channel 56 as a kid. The recent return of the giant monster movies like Pacific Rim and Godzilla have made me, and my inner 10-year very happy. But Kong Skull Island has really got the vibe right.

Unlike the 2014's Godzilla movie which kept Big G in shadows for much of its running time, Kong Skull Island has no problem giving you Kong right up front and early in the movie. But one of the things that you need when doing any giant monster movie, especially in the age of CGI, is you have to care about them. If you don't have that, then you're watching a videogame... that you're not in control of. That's why so many movies, when you get the the end, leaves audience feeling bored, going through rote moves.

The initial voyage into Skull Island, a highlight in the trailer, is a great action set piece. It shows just how much Man's firepower is not as impressive as we thought. Very much a ode to the “Ride of the Valkyries” sequence from Apocalypse Now.

I think it was a smart move by writers Dan Gilroy, Max Borenstein and Derek Connolly, and John Gatins, to place it at the end of the Vietnam War, taking it out of a modern mindset and placing it in another era & mindset. Like Skull Island itself, it is a world that is feels much more in the past, And director Jordan Vogt-Roberts goes even further by tying it into one of the classic Vietnam movies, Apocalypse Now. The iconography and imagery is not happenstance, but a direct choice. There are several characters that feel like reflections of Colonel Kurtz.

John Goodman 's Bill Randa and Samuel L. Jackson's Preston Packard are consumed by an obsession. Randa to prove his theories on “monsters of a bygone era” and Packard to defeat the enemy he never was allowed to in the jungle. Both get what they want, but in the end reap what they have sown. The two of them really help keep things interesting for the audience, rather just than waiting for the next giant monster fight.

Brie Larson and Tom Hiddleston get by with a lot of charisma, even if their characters are not the most developed. They look good, take the events seriously, and get in some action hero mileage. John C. Reilly was there for exposition about Kong & Skull Island(not just for this movie..) and laughs. But, as usual, he does a great job of keeping his character from becoming cartoonish. By the end, he brings a soulfulness & melancholy that I hadn't expected.

I was disappointed in several character deaths, in how the way they were killed off. The feeling that the writers/director didn't have anything left for them to do, so just wrote them off with a quick death. Especially sad, as there was time spent building up and connecting with them.

So if you are looking for a fun, action film with some thought as well as giant monsters fighting, Kong Skull Island is the movie for you- and me!

NOTE: There is a post-credits scene.