Kong Skull Island

So I went and saw the Peter Jackson version of King Kong a long time ago. I kind of wish that I had watched that prior to watching this film so I could do some kind of comparison but I really decided to watch this film on a whim on a plane so I didn't have much preparation for this film. Also, this film has almost nothing to do with the Peter Jackson film or really any King Kong film except the fact that King Kong is in it and it takes place on Skull Island, two things you could deduce from the title. 

Kong Island takes place in the 70s. Vietnam is coming to a close and Soldiers are starting to come

home. John Goodman is working with the black Jack Bauer (his name is actually Corey Hawkins) and they are apart of a special government organization called Monarch. He brings together a team to explore the island for a mysterious reason. He recruits Samuel L Jackson, a disgruntled Lieutenant Colonel who wanted more in the war so he sees the trip to Skull island as an opportunity to fulfill his need for war. He also recruits Tom Hiddleston, a former British spy. For some reason he brings Brie Larson, an “anti-war” photographer. Not totally sure why she’s in the movie…

 

You may be asking why I referred to them by their actor’s name and honestly, I can’t recall a single

name in this film. I think Hiddleston’s characters name is Conrad… maybe? But there is really no chemistry between any of these characters. I think they tried to create a romance between Brie Larson and Tim Hiddleston but there was nothing between them.

And everyone, I mean EVERYONE is phoning this performance in. I did not care about a single character in this entire movie. Apparently Tobey Kebbel is in this movie and while he actually has a decent significance to the rest of the film, I am not going to mention him at all for the rest of the film because he had absolutely no point and was one of the most boring characters I've seen in a while. Tobey Kebbel also helped with the CGI of Kong... go him.

Eventually they get to the island and they figure out there is more to this island than meets the eye. There are insanely large monsters, giant ants that are disguised as trees, and of course, a skyscraper sized ape named Kong.

On the island, They find a castaway from World War 2 on the island (played by John C Reilly). Oddly enough, the most developed character is Reilly. He just wants to go home and they agree to take him with them. Really the only character they give any time into is this rando that they meet half-way through the film. 

Essentially the entire movie is this team, along with a bunch of disposable Soldiers they brought along trekking the island, getting into scrapes, running into the weird and abnormal. Losing disposable characters along the way. 

And man… is this movie dull. You’ve got a list of really great actors. Hiddleston, Goodman, Larsen, Jackson, Riley, all really great talent and yet none of them are really used correctly or are developed… like at all. 

The main appeal of the movie is the spectacle. The size and scope of this movie is actually incredible. I’m going to try and not compare this movie to the Peter Jackson movie, both because I want to review this movie on its own merit and because I haven’t seen that King Kong movie in a while. But

the one thing this movie has on that film is the absolute size of Kong. This Kong is literally the size of a skyscraper the other Kong would climb and it’s shot beautifully. Kong eventually starts fighting these dragon looking creatures and the fights are pretty great to look at. When you see the human characters in perspective with Kong and you see how small they are compared to how big he is, it really is a spectacle. But that’s really all it is. There’s little to no substance in the performances and I really didn’t care that much about these characters. I figured from how little they were developed on the way to Skull Island that a lot of them were going to die and the only reason I knew I was supposed to care was because the more attractive ones like Hiddleston and Larsen are too valuable names to kill off in the first film, especially since there is a shared universe planned.

Yeah, I’m going into spoilers a little bit but this movie definitely sets up for a shared universe where

King Kong is definitely going to have a crossover with Godzilla. I will give them credit, as far as I could tell, they stayed on target with the shell of a story and didn’t bring up any future movie until the end credit scene. And yeah, I will make mention that it was kind of cool to hear the Godzilla screech at the end of a King Kong movie. And yeah, it’s probably going to be a cool fight, especially if they hire the same visual effects guy to do that film. But please… get better writers.

This movie could have been a lot better. Like I’ve said, you have a great cast and an interesting premise. It was also different. The Peter Jackson film was adapting the classic film being set in the 1920s and centering on a film crew going to film a movie where they come across Kong. This film was different having it set in the 70s and having a bit of a Vietnam war movie feel. There are allusions to the original which were somewhat clever, but without a really coherent story or characters you cared about and could turn on their heads to fight the conventions expected by the original, they just felt forced and not nearly as clever as they could have been. 

Instead the two things this movie focused on were John C Riley, an awkward character who I didn’t

have time to really care about as people were getting picked off one by one which was the second thing they focused on. I can’t tell you how many scenes in this film just felt like the movie was trying to recreate the classic T-Rex eating the lawyer scene from Jurassic Park. Jurassic World tried that guys and it didn’t work. Just callasly killing off characters because the visual is kind of funny is not good storytelling and in certain contexts just seems mean spirited.

And Kong Skull Island falls into the category of movies that passed up good storytelling and instead designated the entire movie to set up a Marvel-like cinematic universe. Listen, I’m not opposed to more cinematic universes. While I think that they might be a little bit overplayed and aren’t created so much for the stories that are available and more for the financial benefit, I actually wouldn't mind seeing a shared giant monster universe where Kong fights Godzilla and the giant robots from Pacific Rim… if it was good. I wouldn’t mind seeing a Dark Universe with classic characters like The Mummy, Dracula, and… the phantom of the opera? Well maybe not that one, but I like the idea of Russell Crowe playing Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, providing a Nick Fury like character, assembling a team together to fight the supernatural… if it’s good.

Even the DC universe, the home to some of my favorite superheroes, has made the misstep in believing that spectacle is the only thing you need when making a shared universe and forgoing good stories. 

As much crap as I give Marvel for making their movies too much alike and following a formula that is really getting tiresome by now, at least they have stories. At least they develop their heroes and I am legitimately entertained during their films. Maybe Tom Hiddleston isn’t going to have a future role in the shared monster universe, but give him a character. Make me like him a little bit for more reasons than just being the handsome lead. If John C Riley is going to have a larger role in this universe, give him more time and development. 

This shared universe is going to be difficult because its going to be very hard to make a movie off of

giant monsters that don’t talk and in the past have been symbols of destruction to urban infrastructure compelling protagonists. And if Kong Skull Island can’t even do that with their human characters, I don’t know how they’re going to do it with their monsters.

But those are my thoughts on Kong Skull Island. What did you think? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

I’ll leave you with this. I really enjoy Film Theory. If you haven't checked out MatPat's videos, whether they be Film Theory or Game Theory you really should. Well I wanted to give him a little shout out and have it connect to Kong Skull Island. Enjoy!