Kong: Skull Island Review

"Is that a monkey?"


Kong: Skull Island was directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts and stars the likes of Tom Hiddleston, the one and only Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson, John C. Reilly and John Goodman. The film follows a group of scientists and marines on an expedition to an uncharted island, but what they discover is an island full of creatures that are larger than life and the one and only King Kong.

Kong: Skull Island definitely has some interesting ideas behind it for example being set in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, and after seeing all the positive reviews that this film was received I was extremely excited to see the latest version of Kong on the big screen in what is the second film in this so called monster-verse by Warner Bros (are we really calling it this?), but I have to admit that I was disappointed whilst watching this film.

Before I go on and explain my issues with the film, let's state what I enjoyed about the film. Firstly Kong looks amazing on the big screen and looks just as good as his previous incarnation way back in the Peter Jackson version. Kong had elements of humanity which was some of the stand out moments for me and of course Kong gets all the stand out moments in the film, one of those would be the final set piece which shows Kong at his peak strength, being tested by one of the films other enlarged creatures. I also liked the cinematography during the film some of the shots were absolutely stunning for example the helicopters approaching the island (really gives Apocalypse Now vibes!). I also liked the move away from the tradition King Kong narrative, the entire film takes place on Skull Island and I enjoyed spending more time on the island rather than rushing Kong back to New York for his final showdown on top of the Empire State Building but is that confirming the rumors of the Godzilla vs Kong film slated for release in 2020 (we will have to wait and see!)

So now let's get into what I did not enjoy about the film. Considering this is a film about King Kong the main emphasis should be on the main character, but considering we see the film through the eyes of the scientists and marines who travel to Skull Island, you would expect to be able to follow some fleshed out three dimensional characters that keep you entertained when Kong is not on the screen, but guess what they really aren't fleshed out at all. Obviously there are some really good moments between characters, mainly between two of the soldiers (wont spoiler it for you!) which really brings a smile to your face but the other characters are dull (and dare I say it a little boring). Tom Hiddleston, Brie Lawson seemed completely wasted in this film and even Samuel L. Jackson who had a really interesting character complex going on about a soldier who could not leave the fight behind him, got irritating after a while (yes I know how can Samuel L. Jackson get irritating!). Away from the character issues there were some CGI sequences which could of been a little sharper, might just be me but some of the CGI from the Peter Jackson version of King Kong was better than some of the CGI in this film, and also some things just happened without explanation and just happened for the sake of happening and were only briefly referenced by a bit on unnecessary dialogue then never mentioned again.

Overall if you are a fan of King Kong than I am sure you will enjoy this movie, don't get me wrong I enjoyed aspects of this film and of course loved seeing King Kong on the big screen again doing what he does best, and for me Kong was one of the only rewarding factors about this film.

Verdict: 3 out of 5 stars