#[ big lines i know-- but i just rewatched the trailer to capture a scene for her answered banner and here we are. ]

[babocka]

... This is such a little detail that no one will go looney over like me, but she drags her scythe across the floor as she rushes in.

[mama-qwerty]

Okay. So.

The Sonic 3 trailer.

First of all, I watched this with my whole family, so didn't see it until about 2:30 this afternoon. My son is the one who got me into Sonic in the first place, so I thought it was only fair that I wait until he got home from school so we could watch it together.

We all absolutely loved it, and think it looks like a really fun ride.

I've rewatched it a few times, and a few things stood out to me.

The Race Scene

The little bit at the beginning when the three are having what looks like a race into the forest back home. Maybe they're actually racing or playing capture the flag or some other kind of game to give them some enrichment and exercise (so they don't cause shenanigans). Based on a few other quick shots, it looks like they're having fun.

Now, further into the trailer we see Knuckles kicking off Big Ben, and Sonic zipping up the side of a bridge, much like he did off the log back home during this game. I'm thinking we'll see a parallel of the game at some point, where they maybe need to work together, or just need that connection to home to really focus and get the job done. (I'm guessing they're going after whatever that ship is that's coming out of the water. Maybe. I dunno. The time of day looks right, though.)

Team Sonic Working With GUN

Walters isn't recruiting the boys out of just desperation. He wants to see them in action, wants to know what they're capable of. And he's only going to tell them what he wants them to know. They're not chomping at the bit to join the very organization that tried to capture them (Sonic and Tails) or likely hold them accountable for partnering with Robotnik the last time (Knuckles).

Sonic calls Shadow a "rogue alien", which would be odd if he knew Shadow's true origins. Walters likely told them Shadow appeared on earth 50 years ago and was subdued and put into status, but escaped and now is a danger to the planet. They likely don't even know he's a hedgehog. Which would explain Sonic's claim of not wanting to fight once they realize he's like them.

Which ends badly for all three.

My guess is that line about how "Shadow isn't too different from Sonic" is said later, once the family confronts Walters about who this other hedgehog really is. Walters has no choice but to fess up (to a point) and tell them what happened.

"What did you do?"

Sonic says this line with such a combination of anger and fear and pain that I can only guess that Shadow did something to Sonic's family. Likely Tom. This would cause Sonic to drop all pretense of jovial banter, and get really, really pissed.

I've seen theories that this maybe brings about Dark Sonic, which would be cool, but I have my doubts. But it will test Sonic's heart, calling back to the scene at the beginning that Tom said his heart never changed after everything. If Sonic thinks Shadow hurt (or killed) someone he loves, he would feel very conflicted in how he'd react to that.

Robotnik

Okay. So, he's back, no surprise there, and he's looking really unkempt. Depression does that to a person. I'm eager to see the back and forth that gets him to agree to work with the boys, and wouldn't put it past him to demand the Master Emerald as payment. To which Knuckles will of course refuse, which is why Sonic will give him one of his quills instead.

He likely has no idea about Shadow, as it seems as though Shadow escapes on his own. (Or does he? Could Robotnik have access to whatever containment system Shadow's been kept in, and releases him simply to cause mayhem?)

The group somehow end up at what used to be the ARK for some reason. I take it this is where Robotnik double crosses the boys (shocker!) and chains them up to let Shadow finish them off.

This is also where he meets his grandfather, Gerald. (He calls Gerald Pap Pap, which is a term some people use for their grandfathers, myself included.)

Now, here's where I have a few theories. It could really be Gerald, still alive and running on his anger after all these years. If he stayed at the ARK after the military overran it, that would be 50 some years of solitude, where he's dwelling on what happened, why it happened, and what could have been done to prevent it. He's become twisted and insane, seeing humanity as a plague and releasing Shadow to enact his revenge.

Or, based on how identical Ivo and Gerald look, it's possible 'Gerald' is actually Ivo himself. Maybe a subplot of this is the chaos emeralds, they need to find them so Sonic can be powerful enough to stop Shadow. But maybe they're like the Infinity Stones, and one has the power to manipulate time. Ivo gets hold of it, goes back in time, and proceeds to use the quill that Sonic gave him during their little agreement to work together to create Shadow.

Or the chaos emerald itself was used to create Shadow as well, and that's why he's got so much chaos energy in him that he can't control. He can't find that damn fourth chaos emerald, because he IS the fourth chaos emerald.

Or, Ivo is a clone that Gerald made of himself to continue his research. When the ARK was raided, all of Gerald's experiments were taken, including Gerald IV--that the government named Ivo before placing him into an orphanage.

I dunno. None of these are likely true. But they're fun to play with and think about.

Tails

Adorable as ever. I'm hoping we get some more engagement and action from him.

Knuckles

My boy. Needs an ice pack for that wrist. Just wanna scoop him up and care for him. I hope we see some good interactions between him and the rest of the family.

Shadow

He looks good. Like, really good. I'm not 100% sold on the voice acting, but we've only heard 2 lines from him, so I'm reserving judgment on that. The fight scenes look great, and he's a very formidable adversary for the boys. Unlike anything any of them have seen or fought before. Running on pure grief and anger, he's thrown into a world he doesn't understand, and doesn't care to because it stole his sister from him.

~~~

I found the trailer very fun, and am excited for the movie. And I'm happy to see some excitement for the SCU out there again.

[27emailsicantsend]

What are your thoughts on when we’ll get a release date or a trailer? I was so convinced they’ll release it in July like last year but now I’m afraid that ship has sailed 😭

Hi Anon! I have a couple other anon requests I’ll get to tomorrow, but I wanted to make sure I got this one answered today BECAUSE I think we are getting info tomorrow.

Last year on the exact same day, Disney+ gave a bunch of announcements for future shows in the series (as a part of National Streaming Day). This included HSMTMTS have Corbin Bleu in s3 and the renewal of s4. Well, guess what day tomorrow is? 😁 and there is a tik toker @abbzbon who will be doing “flows” all day of different shows and what shows to watch on Disney+ if you watch Hulu and vice versa. I think we will get info there and/or on YouTube when they drop the video on show announcements. I don’t see them doing any more than a sneak peek at a scene (my guess is the principal announcing the play will be HSM4) and a release date.

If this is the case, I feel like we can expect the same timeline as last year where we get the first trailer mid-late June and the first episode late July… which I agree kind of sucks.

HOWEVER, we know this season is probably following the pattern of previous seasons (because it’s been revealed there will be a Halloween episode), so I could see them picking up right where season 3 episode 8 left off. Dara said episode 8 is important to rewatch for s4 and we have that screen cap of what looks to be Ricky unpacking on his bed (perhaps a flashback to before the kids watched the trailer?) so I think the SHOW will start mid-late summer, which would line up with when we start to watch it too.

TLDR: one scene and a release date tomorrow, trailer mid-late June, first episode release late July-first week of August

I also genuinely think we are getting a s5 but it won’t be announced tomorrow

My prediction for the first episode (if you care hahaha)

We start off right where episode 8 left. We see rina kiss again and them walking off stage and some sneaky scene where someone (even Corbin if he’s secretly still being a villain) is capturing their audio (the camera turned off, but mic’s very well could have still been on and for Corbin to blatantly say he was turning off the camera feels… sus to me)

We see a time jump of the kids returning from camp and some of the reasons they were dressed/acting the way they were at the trailer premiere (like Kourtney). We see the scene of Ricky unpacking and the photo of gina on his bed.

Then we flash forward to the first day/week back at East high where the kids find out about hsm3 -something Jenn is so proud of- just for the spotlight to kind of be taken by the principal announcing hsm4. (I feel like this will reflect her story arc in a big way. Like she’ll get another chance to be in an HSM movie and/or she is sad about the spotlight of her show getting taken so Mozzarella Stick comforts her and that’s what gets them together [I’m a Mikexjenn stan, but I won’t deny who will probably end up together]).

[blodreina-noumou]

The 100, 7x02 - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good

+ I really cannot think of any single moment in this episode that I did not like. It’s been a very long time since I felt that way about this show.

+ Octavia and Diyoza became the old married couple Diyoza quipped about last season! It’s real!! Together, with Hope, they are my new favorite found family dynamic, and it was so adorably refreshing to see some simplicity and healing and growth in this show. Long overdue for Octavia, and explains so much about her miraculous transformation post-Anomaly.

+ Hope and Echo initially seeming at-odds, with Hope bringing up Echo’s botched attempted capturing of Auntie O - the way that turned into that incredibly heartwarming and cathartic scene of the two women hugging and crying and promising to work together. I was expecting the animosity to stick around, and I’m so glad it didn’t. In fandom terms, I love this new brotp.

+ Hope’s storyline is really interesting, and really sad. I love the echoes of other kids - being raised on stories like Jordan and Madi, being a girl hiding in her own home like Madi and Octavia - those are the kinds of meaningful callbacks that I really, really like.

+ I really do feel so much more satisfied with Octavia’s storyline now. Where she’s at makes so much more sense to me. She’s clearly grown so much. There were just so many parallels and callbacks to her relationship with Bellamy, and her own childhood. It made me really emotional.

+ Diyoza’s storyline, too. When she cries, “I need you too. Is that what you want to hear? Why aren’t we enough?” The vulnerability and need to belong was so strong for both of these women, and the fact that they found a family together is going to keep me happy with this show for a long, long time.

+ There are parts of the “time moves differently on different planets” thing that I really like. I like that it gave a reasonably believable way for Hope to have aged up so quickly. The sort of haven that Planet Beta became was definitely a big plus for me. Octavia is 33 now, y’all!! What!!!

+ The more I see of Gabriel, the more I like him.

The Bad

0 - That being said, it was VERY frustrating to have the sole reason the code slipped away from them be Gabriel’s eccentric curiosity and carelessness. A man as old, wise, and smart as him should have never let that tablet out of his sight, no matter what. Definitely not to get something to write with. I know he’s obsessive and a bit distractible when it comes to the Anomaly, his 200-year-old mystery, but the way we lost the code still felt like a contrived plot point to undoubtedly stick another time-jump in. Guarantee the next time we see AnomalyKru, there’ll be a “Five Years Later” caption.

0 - With time behaving differently, it shouldn’t have too much of an impact on the Sanctum storyline. That being said, I am already having trouble keeping track of who is doing what, when, and where. There’s SO much going on this season. We’ve burned through so much of the trailer footage, and we have 14 episodes to go, so it’s impossible to guess where things will go from here. That’s exciting, but also nerve-wracking. Every time they wipe a world and move on, I’m disappointed with the result. But who knows? It’s still so early.

0 - I don’t know if I totally understand the purpose of having a prison world where you can serve a five-year sentence over a weekend. So you continue to age, but time essentially stops for your “real life”? So they have prisoners returning home to loved ones seriously aged and probably a bit crazy from the isolation. That seems like a flawed system. Do the prisoners get the helmets that allow them to keep their memories? How much did the dude with the countdown tattooed on his arm know before he went a lil crazy? Is he going to become an actual character?? I don’t know how on board I am for all of that, and another time-jump. Just seems like a lot.

0 - Speaking of a lot - this episode was a different show from last episode. We can agree on that, right? This episode was essentially a spin-off. The Sanctum plot with the Primes already feels miles away. I didn’t really care about it before this episode, and I care even less, now. Intentional? Not sure. But this plot is crowded, and I still cannot see how it’s all going to converge.

0 - I felt Bellamy’s absence in this one. It definitely felt like he should’ve been with AnomalyKru. Hope’s line: “If what I know about the two of you [Echo and Gabriel] is true, we’ll be fine.” referencing Gabriel and Echo’s ability to fight, felt like it was a line that originally included Bellamy. IIRC, Octavia didn’t know much at all about Gabriel before she went into the Anomaly. She knew he was crafty, and knew his planet very well, but I’d be surprised if she got the impression that he was much of a fighter. Bellamy was known for being a badass though, especially in Octavia’s eyes. That line felt like it didn’t belong without him.

The Ugly

- No Memori. Not even a glimpse! Incredibly rude way to treat royalty, y’know? I just cannot stand for it!

...

I kid. I mean, I missed them, but I kid.

Honestly - loved this episode, and there really wasn’t much about it that I can complain about. Most of my gripes come from confusion or concern for the future. But I’m actually really excited to rewatch this one, and I’m even more excited to see what happens next!!

[dorizardthewizard]

TLNM musings, part 2

Okay, here I ramble about problems with the movie. Ended up adding more stuff since I first wrote this :’P

Screentime and characterisation of the other ninja:

One of the biggest complaints from fans... they're all introduced individually with very different personalities, they’re told they each have a special element they control, making you feel like they should each get some moment to shine and affect the plot of the movie, but then none of that happens. Ultimately you could take out all the ninja and the story would be the same, you don't even necessarily need them for Lloyd's character since his journey of reconnecting with his father and bringing his family together can still work without them. It's so sad because if you read and watch extra material, you can tell thought went into their personalities, but we never get to see this as they're all just lumped together, mostly there to support Lloyd's development.

For someone who hasn't seen the show, it must feel a bit off seeing characters with distinguished personalities and no payoff for it; take Zane for example. Imagine not knowing anything about the characters and seeing one of them is a robot, for some reason? You wonder why he's a robot, what significance that has for the plot and why it's important for his character (I mean they missed a big opportunity to develop Zane from always trying to fit in and seem like a “normal teenager” to accepting that he's different but that that doesn't mean he's less valid), but then this really specific characteristic is never expanded on except for comedy purposes. People probably thought “oh, guess it makes more sense in the show”, but this just detaches viewers and makes them feel like they're missing something if they haven't seen the show beforehand.

Sigh, still gotta give the crew credit for fitting in a load of little subtle details about the ninja, I had to rewatch it a couple of times because there were things I didn’t notice at first, like Kai sliding down a bannister in the Temple of Fragile Foundations and falling off :’D

Group dynamic:

Another thing that bothered me is that the movie isn't that good at making you care about them as a team. They're already established as friends but I wish there were more material showing us how much they care about each other. The Kai hug scene was 10/10 but then when Chen and the other cheerleaders started picking on Lloyd, nobody said or did anything? In merchandise it said Kai is a hothead who isn't afraid to speak up or stand up to people, then show it in the movie! Him and Nya should have been on the verge of tackling that guy to the floor! Ok, I can see Lloyd asking them not to get into fights as it makes people hate him even more and he probably feels guilty if one of the ninja gets into trouble because of him. This would still have given more emotional connection between the characters but we're never shown it, except in the novelisation where Cole tries to block Lloyd from his locker so he doesn't see the insult written on it, I think. But again, we shouldn't have to read/ watch extra material for that.

Instead of moments showcasing the ninja’s friendship and close bonds, we got the opposite- everyone turned on Lloyd incredibly quickly for one mistake. Sure, it was a pretty big one and resulted in Garmadon taking over the city and their mechs being wrecked, but Lloyd was the only one doing anything about Garmadon at the time and he didn't exactly know what the consequences of using the ultimate weapon were; it's not like he knew it could potentially hurt his friends. In fact, how did the ninja know he used it anyway? That would mean they already knew about it and what it could do, yet Lloyd was not told? In which case, how can they blame him?? Damn it Wu, why couldn't you just tell Lloyd that using the weapon would unleash a cat that could destroy the city, instead of vaguely saying the weapon can be dangerous in the wrong hands. That's taking too many pages from TV Wu's book!

Honestly, it's like the ninja were just one character either shunning Lloyd or supporting him, depending on what the plot needed :/ That scene where they're talking with Garmadon while carrying him through the jungle really rubbed me the wrong way because first, no one seemed to care that Lloyd is so snippy because he's been forced to work with the man who made his life hell, and second they joke about Lloyd with that very same person and imply they don't respect Lloyd as leader, as Jay says he doesn't usually want to listen to him when he's talking? What??

 Lloyd and Garmadon’s relationship:

I mentioned this in part 1, but they really didn’t execute this well- I feel like they had so much fun playing up Garmadon being the worst dad in the world that they forgot to give him redeemable qualities. It took me a second viewing to realise his relationship with Lloyd was actually pretty messed up, because they played off his despicableness as comedic and glossed over it by suddenly giving him a flashback to make it seem like he’s sorry. They wanted to go for the father-and-son-have-issues-but-reconnect story, and had Lloyd say “I wish we didn’t have to fight all the time” in his emotional ending, but that’s a line usually present in a daddy-issue story where both have a part to blame and there's issues with communication. In this, though? Lloyd did nothing wrong! It was just Garmadon being trash, and there wasn't even a particular scene of him recognising and apologising for his actions- not the bit about driving Misako away, but how he treated Lloyd after.

The message is all mucked up - hoping to find some good in neglectful parents is just gonna get you hurt, and in a story like this it would make more sense for the protagonist to realise they don't need validation from this guy, shouldn't feel like they have to keep connected with toxic relatives just because they're family, and that they should focus on the friends and family who actually love them (although, whether Lloyd's friends were even portrayed as liking him is a different story). I mean, Koko could just teach him to throw and catch! Does he have to have two parents just for that?

 Tone and humour:

I think another main reason this movie didn't do as well was its more childish tone and dialogue; unlike the previous two movies, it was marketed at younger children. One of the main reasons TLM and LB were so successful is because of the self-aware jokes that could actually be enjoyed by adults too, while in this movie I may have properly laughed only a couple of times. Plus, in its effort to connect with kid's humour it just got cringy in some parts, like the Ultimate Weapon compilation. It would have been funny if it was ironic, like Amazing World of Gumball style, but it just didn't come across like that, so I can see why many jokes fell flat for older audiences.

People probably had different expectations for the overall tone as well- everyone loved the previous LEGO movies because of their constant barrage of action, witty jokes and a ton of references. This was never the selling point of Ninjago, but TLNM didn’t manage to capture the show’s dramatic style and deep lore-driven plot either.

The writers:

Okay last thing. This movie had three directors, six producers, six screenwriters and seven people working on the story. Compared to most animated movies, that's a lot, and its shows. It feels like they had a few different ideas and themes and couldn't quite patch them together, with vague messages like “looking at things from a different point of view” being thrown in as well to try and link it up. I guess at the end of the day, this is a father-son story, and that makes it very difficult to fit in a power-of-friendship plot at the same time, but still. Also, the shifting plot and ideas is really clear in the trailers, I mean half the stuff there wasn't even in the movie, it's as if the entire story was changed!

 Final verdict? I think an overall theme with this movie is that the writers wanted to overhaul Ninjago to introduce it to new viewers, but also wanted to keep the fans happy so shoehorned in lots of elements from the show without giving them enough development. This just disappoints fans and alienates general audiences, which is a problem since Ninjago doesn’t have a huge following already backing it up like LEGO Batman did, and could have been the pilot for more original LEGO lines making it to the big screen. It was a technically amazing movie, with beautiful animation and visuals, an epic soundtrack and stunning voice acting, but it was also such a waste of potential.

 The only other thing we can do is think about how it could have gone differently, so here's some of my ideas :'D

NOT using the deleted time travel plot. I know that after being disappointed in a movie you welcome any alternative, but giant mechs were already a big deviation from the ninja theme; flinging in time travel as well would be too much for non-show watchers. Plus, I thought we were all complaining about how time travel in Ninjago always just messes things up :'P

Also not following the show closer. We have over 10 seasons of the show, the whole point of a movie is giving a fresh take; using a giant snake or the Overlord possessing Garmadon again would just be boring.

Delete the first act? One of the best parts of the secret high school heroes trope is seeing how they juggle both lives, if you're gonna drop it after half an hour there's not much point of it being there.

Could instead just have Garmadon attacking again, the last invasion attempt being ages ago. Maybe the ninja rediscover a rich history of elemental masters protecting Ninjago when Wu decides to get a new team together to fight the new threat?

Make it about learning master building instead so they build their mechs at the end, and then gain elements in a sequel?

Or don't mention anything about elements and have every ninja individually go through an obstacle to obtain an elemental weapon, then they all lose them but don't know they're not necessary, so it's actually a surprise that the power is inside them? Everyone gets a sort of true potential moment?

Ninja having to warm up to Garmadon's son, so we have a plot of Lloyd slowly gaining their respect and becoming leader?

Higher stakes at the end, make the Shark Army more threatening and have them turn on Garmadon using Meowthra, so there's still an intense climax of the ninja fighting the army before Lloyd reaches Meowthra and gets his emotional ending?

Get rid of the live action sequence, or make it fit the message of the story more?

Feel free to add any ideas/ thoughts!

[ostermahaus]

It’s On Like Kong! Skull Island Review

Kong: Skull Island takes a completely new approach to a classic character with mostly entertaining results.  Gone is the beauty and the beast/damsel in distress storyline.  This new Kong has no need of sacrifices and ceremonies, nor does photographer Mason Weaver (Brie Larson) need saving.  It’s one welcome change to the story to modernize it a bit.  Set in 1973 (Fear not, it’s far better than it’s actual 70’s counterpart) against the backdrop of the last days of the Viet Nam war.  William Randa (John Goodman) and Houston Brooks (Corey Hawkins) have discovered an uncharted island in the South Pacific shrouded by a perpetual storm and want to get a military escort to take them there for a survey before the troops pull out and also so they can chart the island before the Russians get their own satellite images of it.  Enter Colonel Packard (Samuel L. Jackson) and his unfortunate band of soldiers.  They’re all ready to ship off back home, but he feels the Army is giving up and abandoning the war so he jumps at the opportunity to take his men out for one more mission to prolong his time in the field.  Also along for the ride is former British officer and expert tracker James Conrad (Tom Hiddleston) who comes along for a hefty sum of money despite listing immediately all the ways they’re sure to die on a completely uncharted island.

 Another big change is the lack of a long sea voyage and after rewatching all the previous versions in the past week, I can’t say I miss that aspect.  Changing the approach to helicopters made a lot more sense and also made for a great entrance from Kong, who is slightly miffed that these things are flying over his land and dropping charges to map the terrain.  It’s not the first glimpse of him we see, as the opening scene was set back in ’44 when a U.S. and Japanese pilot both crash and fight until Kong shows up to make them forget what they were fighting about.  The scene is awkward at first, it seems very random considering it’s brevity and the immediate jump to nearly 30 years later.  As the trailers show, the team gets stuck on the island and that opening scene makes more sense when they run into the downed pilot, Hank Marlow (John C. Reilly) who is thrilled to see people from the outside world.  During the initial skirmish with Kong, all the choppers are separated.  Scattered across the island and all trying to find their way to the pick up zone that was arranged before all hell broke loose.

 This cast is stacked and everyone is enjoyable to watch.  Larson and Hiddleston make very compelling leads and strong protagonists and it made me so, SO happy that it showed them working together and forming a strong team/camaraderie without turning it into any kind of a love story.  This is an action story and has enough going on that it doesn’t need to be slowed down unnecessary side plots.  While it worked alright in the original, it definitely hindered the two prior reboots.  For what it’s worth, I’m 10 times more stoked than I already was to see Brie play Carol Danvers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe now!  Jackson brings all his wild eyed, shouting craziness to this role (he even gets to say “Hold onto your butts!”) and you know he’s the villain from the word go.  The movie isn’t subtle.  I was pleasantly surprised by Reilly’s turn as Marlow, all of his lines in the trailers came off as forced and jarring, but in context, he works pretty well!  Mostly.  There a few clunkers, but the film plows ahead at a brisk enough pace that you aren’t left time to dwell on them much.  Goodman does alright with what they give him, but for as pivotal as he seems at first, they really don’t spend a lot of time on his backstory which could have been really interesting given that he’s the primary tie between this film and Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla from ’14. 

 As for the story?  It’s not nearly as strong as the actors making it happen.  Visually this film is BEAUTIFUL.  A lot of gorgeous shots, great music choices, fun action scenes.  In the end?  It feels very hollow.  As much as I enjoyed them breaking with the traditional story of trying to capture Kong and save the girl, without it there really isn’t much drive.  Oh crap, we’re stuck on this island, we need to get off.  That’s it.  That’s all there really is.  Of course the objective is hampered by the fact that Packard’s blood lust cannot be sated, which is another issue.  Most of the deaths are caused by his vendetta against Kong for killing some of his men.  It eventually turns into a crusade for him.  I don’t get why anyone followed him after he declared it his mission to kill Kong out of revenge, I feel everyone would have bailed.  None of his men wanted to go on another mission in the first place.  The most disappointing aspect is that once all is said and done it just feels like a really long trailer for the Kong Vs. Godzilla mash-up they have planned down the road.  I’m sure it will be fun and this movie was fun, but it didn’t feel like King Kong to me.  In name only.

 Speaking of Kong, I wasn’t crazy about his design.  He was too upright.  Too human.  It reminded me way too much of the awful ’76 version where it was CLEARLY just a guy walking around in a monkey suit.  The best part of the ’05 version was that he looked like an actual ape.  He and the other creatures looked very lifelike in this  go round, but we’ll see how they stand the test of time.  I remember being wowed by Jackson’s ’05 version when it came out, but CGI does NOT age well and with the exception of Kong himself, most of the creatures in that now look like hot garbage.  I was also a bit disappointed by the lack of dinosaurs.  The Skullcrawlers were alright, but seemed kind of generic.  The major thing that drew me to King Kong as a child was the fact I heard he fought dinosaurs and I was a dinosaur fanatic!  They had some good nods, but mostly the fights with the Crawlers felt like a tease for the fact we know Godzilla is coming.  Make sure you stay after the credits for a glimpse of where that’s all going down the road a bit.

 To sum it up, it’s definitely not a traditional Kong film, but if you’re looking for an explodey, loud, action flick with lots of big monsters punching each other, some great visuals and cool action scenes, check it out!  Just turn off your brain and have a good time!  Hoping to make this an every Friday thing here, planning to do Beauty & The Beast and T2: Trainspotting next week!