In 2014, Warner Bros. rebooted the Godzilla franchise with a well-made monster movie that spawned what they now call the “MonsterVerse.” Yes, it’s a cinematic universe for monster movies, which means eventually we will get to see Godzilla and King Kong fight. But first, we have to be introduced to this new Kong and what an introduction that will be.
“Kong: Skull Island” is directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts. If you’re unfamiliar with him, his only previous film credits are a Nick Offerman stand up special and the indie film “The Kings of Summer.” He makes a great Kong movie though, with explosive action scenes and an interesting concept to back it up.
This is not the Kong of Peter Jackson or the original film. The year is 1973 and Kong is keeping watch over Skull Island, where monsters lurk below the surface. The introduction of Kong in the film gets right to the point, even interrupting a song playing on a helicopter’s radio with a tree thrown directly at them.
“Skull Island” nails the cinematic and stylistic aspects of the film. Imagine the Vietnam era visual style of “Apocalypse Now” but with a giant monkey in it. The camera regularly gets in gorgeous shots of the island and action, with color and fire used with delightful precision.
There are so many great shots in the movie; of helicopters, of a Nixon bobble-head, of Kong obliterating other monsters, that make this a movie that fully takes advantage of the big screen it’s on. Unfortunately, there is one aspect of the movie that isn’t as well done and that’s the characters.
While the story itself is solid, most of the characters aren’t used. Samuel L. Jackson and John C. Reilly turn in the best performances, but Tom Hiddleston and Alison Brie feel like they’re just doing the best with what they have. Some of the side characters are more interesting, like Jing Tiag’s biologist San and Corey Hawkins’ Yale graduate Houston. But, John Goodman is forgettable and most of the soldier characters are given a handful of good lines and that’s it.
“Kong” is not a bad film. It’s visually and stylistically great with a solid story overall, but the human characters that we spend so much time with feel wasted, apart from a few. The music does a great job of capturing the action and the era and the final battle is truly something that should be seen on the big screen. This is a classic example of style over substance, although, it is some damn good style. 3.5/5
