Review of Kong: Skull Island (2017) by Peter F — 12 Jul 2017

One wouldn't think that the world needed another King Kong reboot/remake, but Jordan Vogt-Roberts' genre-mesher is an endlessly fun and imaginative film. Deciding to set the film in the 1970s might seem like an odd decision at first, but it gives the film a great sense of character, while establishing that its vision isn't limited to that of the original 1933 film.

Vogt-Roberts, making his mainstream debut after his indie premiere The Kings of Summer, also proves to have a flair for being an adventurous genre filmmaker here, and he's working with a script that seems to love pulp and campiness as much as he does.

There's just such variety in the action scenes here, and it's tongue-in-cheek towards the material in a way that recalls Indiana Jones more than anything else. A pitch-perfect ensemble cast too, with the characters feeling both palpable to the world, as well as humanistic in their depiction.

Three months into 2017 and it's already been a great year for genre films (John Wick Chapter 2, Logan, Get Out), but Kong: Skull Island is the best one yet.