Simply fantastic!

Rating: 9/10 (10 March 2017)

Tarzan may be "Lord of the Jungle" and Godzilla is called "King of the Monsters", but King Kong bows to no one â€“ man or beast. He is, after all, "The Eighth Wonder of the World", according to the original movie. American filmmaker Merian C. Cooper (who co-directed that film) named and created the character of the giant ape, with minor contributions from British writer Edgar Wallace (whom Cooper had hired to write the script, but who died early in the revisions process). The result was the iconic 1933 film â€“ followed by several other movie versions and multiple representations of Cooper's monster in various media and other forms. Over a 72 year span, three films carried the simple title "King Kong".
That first version (starring Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong and Bruce Cabot) is dated by today's standards, but featured groundbreaking special effects and music with a script written by Ruth Rose, the wife of co-director Ernest B. Schoedsack (at a time when there were a higher proportion of female screenwriters than today) and remains high on many all-time best lists. The cast of the 1976 remake (produced by famed Italian filmmaker Dino De Laurentiis and directed by the prolific John Guillermin) was led by Charles Grodin and then-20-somethings Jeff Bridges and Jessica Lange (in her film debut). 2005's "King Kong" starred Naomi Watts, Adrien Brody, Jack Black & Andy Serkis and was directed by Peter Jackson. The original has higher ratings on IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes than its sequels, but all made big profits.
The various cinematic incarnations of the titular great ape have seen him with different personalities (sometimes as a wantonly destructive beast and others as a sympathetic anti-hero), at different sizes (portrayed between 12 feet and 60 feet tall) and with different levels of human-like characteristics (for example, walking upright in the 1933 and 1976 versions, but on all-fours for the 2005 movie). He also battled his rival for the title of biggest, baddest monster in the 1962 Japanese film (and its 1963 re-edited American version), "Godzilla vs. King Kong", which became and remains the most-attended Godzilla film of all. Regardless of how he looks or what he is doing, the colossal primate has become such a fixture in our cultural consciousness that the 2017 version need only refer to him by a single name, joined with a reference to what outsiders call his kingdom: "Kong: Skull Island" (PG-13, 1:58).
Rather than another remake of the original 1933 version, 2017's mammoth monkey movie is a reboot. It's an origin story for the King Kong character and the second installment in Legendary Entertainment's MonsterVerse series which began with 2014's "Godzilla" reboot. "Kong: Skull Island" leads into another Godzilla movie, followed by a King Kong â€“ Godzilla crossover. A clever and game-changing post-credits scene reveals the connection and sets the stage for the coming movies. Meanwhile, this one, although based on an original story by John Gatins ("Real Steel") and a script by Dan Gilroy ("The Bourne Legacy"), Max Borenstein ("Godzilla") and Derek Connolly ("Jurassic World"), had a number of cinematic influences. According to director Jordan Vogt-Roberts, those films include "Apocalypse Now", "Platoon", "Princess Mononoke", "Spirited Away" and even "PokÃ©mon". After seeing "Kong: Skull Island", I'd have to add "Jurassic Park" to that list. However, as compared to the former, the latter isÂ… a walk in the park.
After that admittedly overly long introduction (which really only just scratched the surface of the background and influences to "Kong: Skull Island"), it's finally time to talk about the movie's plot: In 1973, government official William "Bill" Randa (John Goodman) and scientist Houston Brooks (Corey Hawkins) convince a Senator Willis (Richard Jenkins) to support their proposed mapping expedition of a mysterious island in the South Pacific. Bill and Houston travel to Vietnam where they hire former British Special Air Service Captain James Conrad (Tom Hiddleston) to lead the mission. They also secure a military escort from U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Preston Packard (Samuel L. Jackson) and his "Sky Devils" helicopter squadron, which includes his executive officer, Major Jack Chapman (Tony Kebbell), and a diverse and colorful group of experienced soldiers. Rounding out this large group of misfits are other government representatives (John Ortiz and Marc Evan Jackson), another young scientist (Tian Jing) and Mason Weaver (Oscar winner Brie Larson), a war photographer who is suspicious of the expedition's purpose.
After flying through storm clouds which perpetually surround the island and keep it isolated from the rest of the world, the helicopters start dropping seismic charges, ostensibly as part of the mapping mission. The de facto simian ruler of this island doesn't take kindly to anyone disturbing his home. Kong (walking upright, appearing to be about 100 feet tall and played through motion capture by Terry Notary) takes out his anger on those helicopters, killing about half of the expedition's personnel in the process. The survivors, separated into small groups (and one individual) with limited communications, all set out for the other side of the island, where they are to be picked up in three days. Along the way, they encounter a variety of large, unique and deadly creatures, a tribe of island natives and an American (John C. Reilly) who has been stranded on the island for many years. Meanwhile, Lt. Col. Packard, as obsessed as Captain Ahab in "Moby Dick", is determined to avenge the loss of his men at all costs.
"Kong: Skull Island" is simply fantastic! The casting, characterizations and acting are especially strong, the fight scenes and visual effects are even stronger and King Kong appears appropriately powerful, and terrifying, but also sympathetic. Rather than simply building towards one huge showdown, there are surprises and exciting moments throughout the film, but the intensity is well-balanced with some comic relief, mostly from the loopiness of Reilly's character. This film is at least as good as previous Kong movies, or 2014's "Godzilla", and is a terrific lead-in to subsequent adventures. "A"