America Vs The Viet-Kong

Rating: 8/10 (16 March 2017)

Hollywood decides to reboot KING KONG ? Didn't they do that about ten years ago with very overlong mediocre results ? In other words it's not really a film I had any interest in seeing . That said my mind was quickly changed by the very good word of mouth , especially with all the references made to APOCALYPSE NOW and other 'Nam war films so gave it a chance
I certainly wasn't disappointed with these references . In fact my one criticism of the early part of the movie is just how overdone the references are and you can't fail to notice them and the Doors soundtrack is conspicuous by its absence . Subtlety isn't a strength of this Hollywood blockbuster
Where the strength lies is just how enjoyable it is as an action blockbuster full of explosions , gunfire and stunts . You remember in the Peter Jackson remake where the only good bit is the characters get attacked by assorted creepy crawlers in the gorge ? Well here director Jordan Vogt Roberts takes a leaf out of the highlight of the Jackson version and gives the audience what they're anticipating - a high body count featuring gory deaths . I was personally surprised by just how gory some of the deaths were in a 12 cert film and the screenplay isn't afraid to kill off characters
If there's a downside to all this then it's down to the fact that no film can really compare to the 1933 original which perhaps still remains the greatest monster movie of all time , even after all these long decades . Regardless of that KONG SKULL ISLAND stands tall on its own hind-legs
And Tom Hiddleston gets top billing ? He's a certainty for Bond isn't he ?