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Full disclosure: there’s a soft spot in my heart for big monster movies. That’s not to say like, say, the Alien franchise, even though the Queen gets awfully big in that fourth entry. I’m talking Godzilla, Mothra, King Kong, the Cloverfield monster, and the like, the narratives where even the military of the United States of America needs some good luck to stand a chance. This might expect why I’m still high off of Gareth Edwards‘ sublime Godzilla, the meditative yet thrilling sequences still stuck on repeat in my head.

It’s also why, early into the year, Kong: Skull Island is the new release I’m most interested in, at least before the Summer months hit. The trailers thus far have proved immensely promising and director Jordan Vogt-Roberts has an exemplary cast to work with here, including Brie Larson, Tom Hiddleston, John Goodman, Samuel L. Jackson, and Corey Hawkins. Though there are obviously myriad issues, not least of which being the racial subtext, with the King Kong narrative, to the point that it hindered Peter Jackson‘s mostly stellar remake from 2005. Of course, the narrative can change and Vogt-Roberts seems to be toying around plenty from what I’ve gleaned from the trailers, as well as the five new movie clips that came out today, which you can take a look at below. Thankfully, none of these clips give away any big story details or set-pieces but they speak to a steady, propulsive pace and a colorful palette in Vogt-Roberts’ style that already have my eyes bouncing around gleefully.

Here’s the official synopsis for Kong: Skull Island: