Kong:Skull island

Kong: Skull Island is the newest film to feature the giant ape. Kong got his start eighty-four years ago in 1933, and since then Kong has become an icon as the “American Monster”. Kong: Skull island is a special type of movie, it’s a movie that you have to be in the mind-set to watch. If you’re not in the mood to watch giant monsters fighting, then this is not for you, but if you’re in the frame of mind for a fun movie set during the Vietnam War with giant monsters and Apocalypse Now– eques imagery then this is the movie for you.

The movie starts out during World War II when an American pilot named Hank Marlow and a Japanese pilot named Gunpei Ikari blow each other out of the sky and crash land on a beach in the south pacific. Once on the beach, Marlow and Ikari began to fight each other. Their fight leads them through the jungle and ends on a cliff, where suddenly the ground begins shaking and a giant shadow falls over them and with a loud growl a giant head rises over the cliff to give the viewers their first look at King Kong. The movie then picks up in 1973 and follows Bill Randa, a U.S. government agent who starts going around recruiting people who could guide him on his venture to Skull Island. He hires former British Special Air Services captain James Conrad, who was a skilled tracker. He also recruits the Sky Devils, a Vietnam War veteran helicopter squadron led by Lieutenant Colonel Preston Packard. Later their group is joined by a photojournalist named Mason Weaver.

Once on Skull Island Lieutenant Packard’s men start dropping explosives developed by seismologist Houston Brooks to map out the island. This act enrages Kong, who begins attacking the helicopters, destroying most and damaging the rest. The attack scatters the survivors over the island into two groups, Packers group and Conrad’s group. Both must reach the northern part of the island to meet the refueling team who is arriving in three days.  On their way,  they run into the Iwi natives, downed American Pilot Hank Marlow, horrifying beasts known as Skullcralers, a boat that was frankenstined together out of their planes, Giant spiders, and Pterosaur creatures before reuniting for one final battle.

This movie is great and fun to watch. Unlike the other Kong films, this one is one is like a big budget B-movie. The serious tone of the other movies is gone, this one takes the idea of a giant ape and runs with it.  No longer does he walk on his fist like a real gorilla, but now he stands on two legs. This film is a return to the original adventure story-style of people going to an island and discovering mysteries unsuspected by the rest of the world.

The only the big problem with this movie is the lack of a true villain—-there are deadly creatures who need to be eliminated, and a war-bent general, but there is not one central antagonist for the heroes to defeat.

If you go see “Kong: Skull Island,” don’t leave when the credits start rolling—sit tight for a tantalizing hint as to what comes next!