With the success of 2014’s Godzilla, and the birth of Warner Bros./ Legendary’s monster-verse, Kong was destined to get his own reboot and take his place in said verse. Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts delivers one of the few and most original entries in Kong’s filmography and rather than telling us in the title that Kong is King, we are shown and reminded of his title. With this being Vogt-Roberts’s first blockbuster, he shows that he is more than up to the task of delivering not only the typical eye candy that is expected from a blockbuster, but characters the audience can relate to and enjoy as well as stunning set pieces. Set in 1971, after the Vietnam War, two scientists from Monarch, (a clever connection to 2014’s Godzilla) Bill Randa (John Goodman) and Houston Brooks (Corey Hawkins) think they can map out a mysterious and previously uncharted Skull Island. They enlist the help of tracker James Conrad (Tom Hiddleston), photojournalist Mason Weaver (Brie Larson) and military leader Preston Packard (Samuel L. Jackson) to help map out the Island and protect them from whatever may inhabit Skull Island.

All actors here get to showcase their own distinct personalities and give their own portrayals of these original characters. The top billed cast perform exceptionally, Hiddleston and Larson showcasing how far they’ve come in their careers and proving they can hang with the big boys such as Goodman and Jackson. My personal standout being John C. Reilly as Hank Marlow, a pilot that crashed on Skull Island in 1944. Reilly, in this and 2016’s The Lobster, is proving that he can still be one of the most zany comedians, but also take his acting career seriously when he wants to. As for Kong, he steals the show. Special effects have come a long way since Kong’s last outing in 2005 and this film is a perfect display and use of those effects, making most of the island and all its creatures from special effects. Kong looks not quite as realistic as he did, I think that being the intent, giving the film more of a Sci-Fi feel along with all of Skull Islands other creature inhabitants and ditching the “realism” feeling.

The overall tone of the film works well for the time period and even for current times, making parallels to the state of the country and humanity invading a space it has no business invading in the first place with humans being portrayed as the villain. The films pacing is pretty average, giving us an average beginning, middle and ending template. Once the movie turns its focus on Kong and Skull Island it picks up the pace, and keeps viewers intrigued by throwing not only our titular monster, but other monsters and interesting human characters at us as well as delving into Skull Islands mythology. As far as summer blockbusters go, Kong: Skull Island places itself at the top of the list, giving us a smart, original, visually stunning commentary on Humanity as well as a movie that is just a blast to watch on the big screen. We won’t see Kong again for 3 more years, until he faces of against Godzilla in 2020, but until that time comes, Kong: Skull Island will more than tide any fan over by reminding us that Kong is King!

8.5 out of 10