Directed by: Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Written by: Dan Gilroy, Max Borenstein, Derek Connolly
Starring: Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman, Brie Larson, Jing Tian, Toby Kebbell
Rating: [3/5]
Willingly going to a place where one is likely to encounter a giant gorilla and other monsters certainly says aplenty about the eagerness one has to die. A decision that quells behind each of these characters as they decide to take this journey into an abyss that will certainly bring some pain and tally a serious death toll. Choosing to go on this journey and all that came with it rang through my ears throughout the experience of watching Kong: Skull Island, as we got nothing else from these characters within a film that certainly contains some fun visuals to appreciate.
Following the discovery of Skull Island, the Monarch organization tasks a unit to go out there in search of primeval creatures that could inhabit the territory. This unit includes ex-British Special Air Service Captain James Conrad (Tom Hiddleston) and anti-war photographer Mason Weaver (Brie Larson). As they arrive they see this large ape, whose attack separates them and now they must try their best to find a way off this dangerous island.
If not made obvious from the very beginning, director Jordan Vogt-Roberts definitely watched Apocalypse Now at some point during his life. Almost every frame of this feature seeks to emulate both its aesthetic and overall mood, where it seemingly only wants to differ in that a giant ape exists in this one. From the scenes of the helicopters descending on the island, cinematography utilized, and the time period in which the film takes place, this feature seeks to capture that Vietnam-era look. For what it lacked in originality, we can still appreciate they utilize it as a backdrop to telling a King Kong story and all of the creatures involved.
As these characters arrive at the island, they quickly learn they have gotten themselves in quite the predicament where their arsenal can only do so much against creatures here beyond Kong. It makes for my personal favorite aspect the film has to offer. Our big ape serves as the main event but this island has so much more to offer with all of the creatures inhabiting it and how these characters should fear them more than Kong. Therefore, we have these humans nearly walking through a portal to the past to roam amongst dinosaurs that presents a little case study of how humans would fare in that circumstance.
Receiving the entertainment this feature seeks to imbue upon the audience solely comes from these moments with these creatures, where the humans have to find different ways to either kill them or simply survive as they get off of this island. It makes for many fun scenes, including one with Conrad fighting with a gas mask, along with Kong just messing up these creatures in ways we love about the giant ape. For what it’s worth, this feature certainly sells the audience on bringing this particular experience and it delivers in being a blockbuster experience.
The narrative does, however, falter when we dig into this story and what motivates any of these people to undergo this crazy mission other than money. Sure, people get paid to do dumb things but with the level of madness going on here, we just did not have enough to go on with these characters leaving them completely one-dimensional as they progress through this narrative. Especially considering the amount of time spent with them throughout this journey we should get more out of them but I cannot complain they gave us many scenes of Kong kicking some monster butt to properly compensate for any inconveniences.
Utilizing its visuals and creature effects to a strong degree, Kong: Skull Island very much carries out the stated mission statement of providing some good ol’ fashion creature feature fun. In this film we get a Kong not at his biggest but at his fiercest as he fights off all these carnivorous monsters trying to kill these new humans. We don’t get anything necessarily new regarding this lore as a whole or compelling characters but on a base level it sought to entertain and very much accomplished this through some incredible action sequences all predicated on mutually assured self-preservation. Even with a decent cast, they did not receive to work with here but we cannot expect much more from a creature feature.
Films with Josh 
