By Travis Johnson
John C. Reilly is just straight up playing Dennis Hopper’s wild-eyed Apocalypse Now photographer, which makes calling Tom Hiddleston’s character Conrad seem subtle by comparison. Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts and screenwriters Dan Gilroy and Max Borenstein know exactly what they’re doing here – Kong: Skull Island is shaping up to be a rip-snorting romp of a monster movie which just happens to riff extensively on Coppola’s classic Vietnam War movie, pitting a bunch of ’70s-era scientists, explorers and mercenaries against, well, a giant ape.
The thing is, it looks like fun, the kind of fun we don’t get much of on the big screen any more, balancing goofy comedy with real menace, encapsulated by Reilly’s manic “You shouldn’t have come here!” line delivery. It’s a tricky bit of business to pull off – if it’s successful at negotiating that tonal tightrope, this might be one of the most enjoyable blockbusters of the new year.
Kong: Skull Island stomps into Australian cinemas on March 9, 2017.
