Superhero Media: Kong - Skull Island

After seeing Kong: Skull Island and the 2018 Comicon trailer for Godzilla: King of the Monsters, I'm actually really hyped for this Legendary Pictures Kaiju expanded universe. By the time you're reading this, King of the Monsters has probably already been in cinemas, but I'm calling it now, in August 2018, that Monarch has to go get Kong because Godzilla can't defeat either King Ghidorah or Mothra and the two team-up in the big act-three finale. By Thor, that sounds great! The only thing that could make it better is the end of the film spoiling Gamera, as Legendary has the rights to that master Kaiju as well. If I'm still dreaming, try and rent the rights to Doctor Demonicus from Marvel and cram all the other Toho Kaiju into the franchise. Kong: Skull Island sees the Monarch group finally able to convince the US government to fund an expedition to Skull Island after pulling out of the Vietnam war. As well as a team of scientists, there is an entire wing of Aircav to explore this lost island, looking for something, but few know exactly what. 

I've read in a few reviews of Skull Island that people consider the plot a little light and nonsensical. I'm just wondering what the hell people were expecting from a film in which a giant ape fights US Aircav and snake monsters? Is this a grimdark/hardcore thing again? Please tell me there's not a huge demand for an R18+, gore-fest, fucking King Kong film. If you're nitpicking plot elements of Kaiju films, it's probably not the genre for you, just saying. Bitter after the defeat in Vietnam, Colonel Packard sees killing Kong as a way to redeem himself for the lives of his men, not knowing that Kong is keeping the other Kaiju, the "Skullcrawlers" in check. Loki and Captain Marvel have to stop Nick Fury before Kong is killed and the Skullcrawlers escape to the outside world somehow. Who really cares why the humans are doing what they're doing anyway? The big fight in the final act is something to behold; well worth the price of admission. 

If you're looking for an interesting convention game to play with your 10-15mm Vietnam miniatures, Skull Island is worth taking a look at, I'm tempted to show it to my 20mm 'Nam gaming peers and see what they think. There's a nice Heroclix Titano that's pretty cheap and would make a good Kong for a variety of scales, though I'm not sure how to make the Skullcrawlers, maybe some kind of Reaper or Privateer Press mini or conversion? I've actually started a Kaiju project, for which I'll get the Titano for Kong at some stage, but who knows how long until it actually shows up here, probably years. As I said above, I'm actually really keen to see where this series goes, with King of the Monsters coming out May 2019 and Godzilla vs Kong slated for 2020, it's a good time to be a Kaiju fan. Once I finish a couple of series I'm watching, I'll be jumping back into the classic Gamera films, so stay tuned for that.