Kong returns to the big screen in all the glory he deserves; as a gritty, Saturday morning cartoon revival. Jordan Vogt-Roberts sets out to create a film of pure adventure, stripping down the character drama in favor of purely plot driven story. If you take one part Jonny Quest, one part Ghostbusters, one part Full Metal Jacket, and one part Jurassic Park, you basically get the chemical makeup of this film. Crazy as it sounds, it works fabulously.

Kong: Skull Island begins in 1942, sometime in WWII, with vibrant blue skies and a sandy beach wherein two planes enter the shot and crash immediately. An American pilot and his Japanese aerial foe survive only to continue to try and kill each other. After a short bout, they are frozen in mid strike by the appearance of the titular KONG. All the while, this is playing out somewhat comic in nature with just a hint of seriousness. Thirty years later in Washington, on the day the Vietnam War ends, two men (John Goodman and Corey Hawkins) from the Monarch Group, a research and development outfit, try to request one final grant to help substantiate their claims; that monsters are indeed real. They are granted access to a military expedition to one of the last uncharted islands in the world which is to be led by Col. Preston Packard (Samuel L. Jackson) and the remainder of his Vietnam crew, who of course are all one day away from going home. Thinking ahead, the Monarch team recruits an expert explorer (Tom Hiddleston) to help them through the uncharted wilderness. Before they can shove off for Skull Island, a anti-war photographer (Brie Larson) gets wind of the trip and tags along to expose a secret she believes the government is hiding about the island.

All of this setup happens in quick succession, and is intelligently designed with lean efficiency. Minor character details are sprinkled in, but Voft-Roberts seemed to take a cue from his career as a television director, quickly setting up a universe for us to enjoy. Much like adventure cartoons today, there is often used method of releasing small pieces of information throughout that help build the universe while mostly letting the setting and scenery speak for itself. He used clever shorthand, knowing the audience is probably well aware of WWII and Vietnam, and without skipping a beat, rolled all of it up to help create each character’s M.O., so there wasn’t really much of a need to do anything else but get them to that island and watch the mayhem unfold.

This film sports a well rounded cast of legends, old and new, and really helps to scrape the surface of the Kong lore without diving into the classic story that has been told to death. It does touch on the original, but only for a few short moments that I feel are really just there to help continue the legacy and keep Kong rooted as having a connection with humans. Mostly this film is a complete set of your favorite weapons and set pieces from WWII and Vietnam against giant monsters.

Without a doubt, this was one of the best adventure films I have seen in ages and it is most certainly worth the cost of admission. It has just enough action for meatheads, enough heart string strumming scenes for the drama geeks, enough on-screen kills for the monster fans, and a post credits sequence that will make you wish you didn’t have to wait to see what’s coming next. Let’s just hope any forthcoming sequel is as smart and simple as this.

~* 9/10 *~