Kong: Skull Island is one gnarly monster movie that doesn’t hide the monsters in the darkness or create tension by having them lurk in the background. Instead, it puts monsters front and center in the spotlight, and they come through with shining colors. Kong has never been more thrilling, and his nasty opponents make for such compelling monster fights that you’ll be even more disappointed in the fact that we didn’t get to see Godzilla do this much in his own return in 2014. Charged with a 1970s rock and roll soundtrack, Kong: Skull Island also never loses steam. It plows through an endless array of vicious monster attacks, all presented through a lens that masterfully captures the action, scenery and delightfully grim adventure that Jordan Vogt-Roberts has assembled on screen.