Kong: Skull Island

I'm a fan of monster movies I've slowly come to realize. 

I love the sense of scale that they create and the wonderment that comes with that, not to mention the inventiveness with the monsters themselves too. 

It doesn't hurt that two of the most recent examples of these are films I both enjoyed immensely, Godzilla and Cloverfield (less so, but still mild enjoyment of Jurassic World).

When it was announced sometime in the last couple years or so that they were planning a Godzilla v. King Kong crossover eventually, I was one of the rare optimistic, excited ones. It felt like most others were rolling their eyes at the sight of a cash-grab, probably rightfully so I suppose. But given how great Godzilla was, even despite some shortcomings, I was pumped that we'd see two iconic monsters face off in this world. And as entertaining as Peter Jackson's King Kong was, it didn't spawn much outside of a strong film, so I was okay with the decision to "reboot" the King of Apes once again. 

Much like the marketing for Godzilla, the marketing for Kong has been similarly strong. Little can beat that initial Godzilla trailer that was probably in the Top 5 I've ever seen in my life, but still, Kong: Skull Island has been hitting all the right notes. I was expecting pretty much exactly what I received in the best of ways.

For me, Kong: Skull Island hit the nail on the head for exactly what it advertised and was a eye-popping, fun time at the theater.

Someone just got b***h slapped!

What Kong does so well from the get go is establish itself as a much less serious film than it's fire-breathing brethren. Where that film was full of eerie foreboding and monster horror, Kong is immediately more "fun". It's all about the adventure and the discovery with the scouting party on the gorgeous green island. And it IS gorgeous. That's one of the very first things I noticed about Skull Island is that it's filled with wondrous imagery, a lot of which sets the scale for our enormous Kong. Humans are so small in this film, both in relation to the monster but also in relation to the frame of the shots themselves. It's exciting stuff, having monsters so ginormous on screen that you're really only thinking about how awesome Godzilla vs. King Kong would be. And he IS massive this time around, several times larger than the previous iteration and comparable in size to Godzilla himself. This makes the opening sequence of Kong vs. a fleet of helicopters highly entertaining and insanely badass. The superb monster-mashing action extends to nearly every other sequence as well with large-scale crushings, mushings, rippings, and just general bone breaking going on. Kong and the other monsters on the island are violent and powerful and that lends itself to some awesome sequences. Part of me recognizes that the film uses too much slow-motion, but I'm a particular sucker for well-done slow-motion so I really enjoyed it here. Hell I even liked the several breakaway shots to FPS views looking down the barrels of guns. 

Hunting for Simba in the Forbidden Land

I found that Kong didn't really suffer from much at all to be honest. Nothing in particular is holding it back or outright bad, its only "issues" really stem from the fact that we've seen most of this before. It's nothing new and I imagine that for most audiences, that will wane their enjoyment and excitement somewhat. Unless you're like me and you really enjoy these big monster bashing films, it's likely you'll walk out of the theater similar to just about everyone else in my theater and say: "It was alright." or "It was decent.". And that's fine because despite it's cliches and well visited story line, I think Skull Island will struggle to impress many because of those shortcomings. 

Luckily, we're outfitted with a strong cast along for the ride to explore the island. Given that Kong is a "prequel" to Godzilla, mainly just because it happens several decades before that film, we may never see this cast again. That's a shame, but for the time being it's still a fun crew. Tom Hiddleston and Brie Larson successfully avoid the waters of cliche love birds and are both strong main characters that may have less to do compared to other roles they're in, but are still great here. Samuel L. Jackson plays Samuel L. Jackson once again and does a successful job of avoiding making that feel old too while John Goodman continues to be a great part of any film that he's in. John C. Reilly is the MVP here as the film seems to really pick up after his introduction, both in humor and plot progression. He's not as wacky as the trailers would have you think, which is a good thing, but he was the right choice to convey the character he's playing. The remaining cast is good too, but the humor fails big time in this film outside of really anything Reilly does. It's less about the comedic prowess of the others and more that the script just isn't as funny as it thinks it is.

He'll need to pump some iron before he faces off with Godzilla...

At the end of the day, Kong: Skull Island is going to cater to a specific type of audience. One that appreciates these monster flicks and is excited for the possibilities to come. I am certainly part of that audience and I enjoyed the hell out of Kong. It's a big-time adventure with some awesome creature action, but it does travel some familiar ground, making it a little less "iconic" than the lizard that did it so well a few years ago (but not necessarily less fun).

CONS

• Lackluster original score 
• We've seen this story before
• 80% of the film's comedy attempts are a bust. Blame the script
• Could have used a slight trimming

PROS

• Kong himself is amazing -- taller and bigger than we've ever seen. He looks mostly great as a digital character and he's certainly badass
• The other monsters on the island are fantastic and supremely creepy. There's a lot of fun with imagination to be had here
• Awesome action and fight sequences. The very first one was my favorite, but the others are nearly equally as impressive
• Great use of slow-motion, even if it's a bit overused
• Strong cinematography and framing of scenes. Humans feel appropriately small in this world and the island itself is gorgeous
• Strong cast where almost everyone makes their mark by the end
• Stay after the credits :-) 

 

 

Rath's Review Score | 8.5/10