For nearly nine decades, King Kong has stood (figuratively and, in some cases, literally!) as one of the most iconic creatures in film history. The original King Kong from 1933 still stands as one of the most famous films of all time, particularly thanks to its groundbreaking special effects done by Willis O’Brien. Since then, this classic story of ‘Beauty killed the Beast’ has seen numerous updates over the years. There was the 1976 remake starring Jeff Bridges, Charles Grodin, and Jessica Lange that was fairly hyped back in the day but ultimately received a mixed response from both critics and audiences upon release. And then there was the 2005 remake directed by Peter Jackson, which was far more successful with critics and audiences despite its butt-numbingly long 3-hour runtime. And this year, the Eighth Wonder of the World is back in a new film, Kong: Skull Island. The film serves as the second installment in Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures’ newly-developing ‘cinematic universe’ of monster films, dubbed the MonsterVerse, that first started with the 2014 reboot of Godzilla. These two classic monsters will soon share the screen in Godzilla vs. Kong, a ‘re-imagining’ of the duo’s previous crossover from 1962 that is set to come out in 2020. But first, it’s time to revive cinema’s definitive ape. Unlike Godzilla, which was set in the present day, Kong: Skull Island is set in the 70’s and is directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts, who previously directed the 2013 indie film The Kings of Summer. Here, he takes us on a wild ride that may not have much to it in terms of story and character development but delivers on good old fashioned monster action.
The year is 1973. As America begins to back out of the Vietnam War, Bill Randa (John Goodman), senior official for a government program known as Monarch, and Houston Brooks (Corey Hawkins), a geologist working for Monarch, acquire permission from the U.S. government for a mapping expedition to an uncharted island in the South Pacific known as ‘Skull Island’. To help them during the operation, they enlist the aid of an elite helicopter squadron known as the Sky Devils, led by Lt. Colonel Preston Packard (Samuel L. Jackson), for escort and former British Special Air Service captain/tracker James Conrad (Tom Hiddleston) to guide them once on the island. Along the way, they’re also joined by anti-war photojournalist Mason Weaver (Brie Larson), who’s along for the ride for her own reasons. But, once they arrive on Skull Island, they immediately come across its most notable resident, King Kong (portrayed via motion capture by Terry Notary), who ends up attacking them and subsequently strands them on the island. Separated into two groups, the survivors are now forced to try and get to the other side of the island in time to meet up with a resupply team. But, along the way, they find themselves having to deal with the other creatures on the island aside from Kong, specifically a race of creatures known as Skullcrawlers who were unleashed because of their efforts in mapping out the island.
While 2014’s Godzilla was a solid critical and commercial success, at least when compared to the infamous 1998 remake directed by Roland Emmerich, not everybody was a fan of it. One of the main reasons why was due to the limited screen-time of the title character; about eleven minutes to be precise. Here, though, director Jordan Vogt-Roberts wastes no time when it comes to getting into the monster action and he does deliver on that front. The action in this film is epic and a lot of it is thanks to the excellent visual design. As many have pointed out, it’s arguably the film’s greatest strength. From the bright and flashy color palette to the various homages to the 70’s, particularly Apocalypse Now, this film is absolutely gorgeous to look at. Like the 2005 film, Kong is portrayed via motion-capture and, fittingly enough, following in the footsteps of Andy Serkis’ take on the character in the 2005 film, here he’s played by Serkis’ Planet of the Apes co-star Terry Notary (AKA ‘Rocket’). And, boy, is Kong a ‘beast’ in this film. Standing at 100 feet tall, he absolutely towers over the human characters, resulting in some epic ‘scale shots’ that I’m sure look amazing on an IMAX screen (admittedly, I only saw this on a regular screen so I wouldn’t know). The other great thing about the film is that it isn’t just another redo of the original Kong story. In other words, we don’t go back to New York at the end of it to see Kong climb the Empire State Building; heck, this Kong doesn’t even need to climb it given his height. Instead, almost the entire film takes place on Skull Island and, as such, wastes no opportunities in terms of showcasing its unique wildlife.
But while the visuals, visual style, and action sequences are great, admittedly the story is the film’s biggest weakness. Despite what I just said about it not being a rehash of previous Kong films, it’s basically just a simple ‘get off the island’ story, nothing more, nothing less. And the same thing can be said for the characters as well, which may have something to do with the fact that this film has one of the largest ensemble casts I’ve ever seen. Seriously, there are quite a lot of characters in this film and, as you might have guessed, some of them don’t get much to do in this. Still, at the very least, the film does have a good cast to play these parts, as limited as some of them may be. All the leads do good jobs; Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, John Goodman, Samuel L. Jackson, etc. However, the biggest standouts of the film come from the supporting cast. This includes Shea Whigham as Earl Cole, an eccentric member of the Sky Devils, and, most of all, John C. Reilly as Hank Marlow, a former pilot who had been stranded on Skull Island for nearly three decades after crash-landing there during World War II. Now, I’ll admit that in regards to Reilly, when he first appeared in the film’s second trailer, I wasn’t sure at first how he’d factor into the film. Clearly meant to be the main source of comic relief, initially, I was unsure if it would fit with the overall tone of the film, which seemed to be generally serious based on the first few trailers. However, having now seen the film, it’s clear that Reilly’s performance is in line with the film’s overall light-hearted nature; as such, he’s one of the best parts of the film and, technically speaking, he’s arguably got the most to work with in terms of character development out of anyone in the entire cast.
It seems to me that Kong: Skull Island is proving to be just as polarizing as 2014’s Godzilla. But while Godzilla divided audiences primarily due to the limited screen-time of the titular monster, it looks like the polarizing nature of Skull Island is due to just what kind of beast of a film it is. It has much more to it in terms of monster action than Godzilla but, like that film, it also doesn’t have much to it in terms of plot and character development. Still, director Jordan Vogt-Roberts does succeed in what he clearly must have set out to do; make a good old-fashioned monster film. And thanks to some excellent monster action, as well as fantastic visuals based on a gorgeous 70’s-inspired visual style, Kong: Skull Island is a highly entertaining new take on the lore of King Kong. Admittedly, I wouldn’t say that it’s my favorite of the Kong films (that honor is between the 1933 original and Peter Jackson’s 2005 remake) but it’s a worthy addition to the Kong franchise nevertheless. Not only that, but I am looking forward to the future installments of Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures’ MonsterVerse, especially the upcoming crossover between Kong and Godzilla which, without giving anything major away, is teased in this film.
Rating: 4/5
(Also, be sure to check out my buddy Alex Corey’s review of the film over on his blog, Alex Corey Reviews!!)
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