Good time for pulp movies!

Well now, this is a very pleasant surprise! I had feared that gritty movies with beasts and tough guys were a thing of the past, but I'm glad to be proven wrong. In the last few years we've had Jurassic World, Jungle Book, Tarzan, a slew of westerns, a new Predator movie and now a new King Kong movie. These cool things just keep coming!

I guess Hollywood finally figured out that awesome with good story sells. In this age of modern tech and distance from nature these survival action movies from the bygone era really seem to still strike a cord with folks. Jurassic World actually tried something new, had great action and had enough interesting ideas and concepts to give the audience food for thought. It also wasn't afraid to poke fun at itself, being self aware and not taking itself too seriously. Tarzan, which just came out and for the first time in years I found myself rebuffed from the theater due to every single seat in the theater being used, was a wonderful adaption of the original books. It borrowed enough to be recognizable to the fans but did enough that was new to be its own thing. It was fun, epic, and really captured the magic of the novels.

I'm especially interested in this new King Kong movie, since it is NOT a remake. From the trailer it appears to be taking place in the 60's or 70's, which I think is a good choice. For a moment I was terrified that it was taking place in contemporary history, which is always a good way to turn me off. Rather than trying to retell the same story this one appears to be trying to explore the history of Skull Island and King Kong, something I haven't seen done and which really captures my interest. If handled correctly, this could end up being a really worthy movie. It could still end up being garbage though. I haven't seen King Kong this huge and OP since King Kong vs Godzilla in the Showa Japanese movie. Then again, this is being directed by the same guy who made the latest Godzilla movie, so fair enough.

Still, I'm cautiously optimistic. The line "This planet doesn't belong to us. Ancient species owned this earth long before mankind." really strikes a cord in my primitive soul, evoking images of some ancient secret lurking in the depths of this movie. Please, please, please be good!
Oh, also, Loki is in here. Cool!

Check out the trailer and let me know what you think. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAbI4w95cTE

Being a long time Predator fan, having sold my soul and dignity to acquire almost every comic, game and book on the franchise out there, hearing about another upcoming movie is most exciting. Funny enough, the Predator franchise has had a consistently good string of movies if you exclude the AvP stuff. Aliens sank itself right after the first sequel, but it seems as though that being an underdog has kept Predator from being shamelessly exploited. Although whoever names these movies needs to get fired. Follow me on this one.

First movie: Predator. Beautiful! Simple, effective, and no copyright issues.

Second movie: Predator 2. Sequel, simple title. Not too imaginative, but it works.

Third movie: Predators. Read closely. It is not the same as the first title. Look at that tiny s at the end. Oh! Plural form of Predator. Okay. If you're reading fast it's pretty easy to miss. I'm sure that won't cause aaaaaany confusion at all!

Fourth movie: The Predator. Wow, you guys are really breaking out the dictionary to make this title stand out, aren't you? Adding one whole new word! THE! This surely won't cause havoc when trying to research on Google. Ugh.

Okay, whining aside, from what I've read everyone seems to have a firm handle on what this should actually be. Shane Black, Hawkins from the first movie and one of the writers, stated that it's not the gadgets and action that will make this movie survive. It's putting them into a good story so that those gadgets and action actually mean something. They also know not to violate what is established in the previous films. They said why should they do a remake when they already have a deep and interesting setup to explore further?
Everything the producers say regarding this movie makes me want to jump and clap my hands in glee. It's like they actually understand the fundamentals of storytelling and want to make a good product!

While the rest of the world is falling apart around our ears, at least we have some good movies coming out to help curb the pain. Here's to good movies!