The new trailer for Kong: Skull Island has arrived, and in it we see a team of explorers journeying to a mystery island during the Vietnam War. This new effects-driven blockbuster, directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts (Kings of the Summer), is set forty or so years after the original 1933 classic, with helicopters rather than aeroplanes now being swatted out of the sky by the naffed-off beast. Here, Kong is 100ft tall and god of the island – he appears much more antagonistic and mysterious this time around, but there are also the ‘Skull-walkers’, who are the real enemy to both him and the explorers.
With things looking bigger (and hopefully better), the most surprising element of the trailer is its tone. The upbeat, 1969 track, ‘Bad Moon Rising’, lends proceedings a sense of playfulness, and moments of comedy suggest that the final film will carry this through. Adding light relief to the trailer’s more intense moment is John C Reilly’s character who says, with embarrassment, “I call them ‘Skull-Crawlers’… I’ve never said that name out loud before. Now I do it sounds stupid… just you call ’em whatever you want”.
Remember, all this is tee’ing up a Kong Vs Godzilla movie, which Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures are ultimately building towards. So far, it looks like a very colourful, stylish blockbuster, full of exciting action sequences and creepy CGI creatures. Roll on March.
Published 17 Nov 2016