Review: “Kong: Skull Island” (2017)

Few will disagree that the original King Kong released in 1933 has been one of the most influential films in the history of Cinema. Its influence and success made a lot of people go into the world of movie making or as Ray Bradbury remarked that when King Kong was released, “a mob of boys went quietly mad across the world, then fled into the light to become adventurers, explorers, zoo-keepers, filmmakers.”

King Kong through the years became a part of pop culture. From movies to books to cartoons to toys and other forms of merchandise, one generation after another has grown up with King Kong in some form.

Not only did Kong become big business but the business of creature features became a profitable artistic venture as well. Through the decades the business of monster movies became a lucrative one because the movies were low in budget, younger audiences with disposable income seemed to enjoy them and science fiction enthusiasts of all ages embraced them as well.

Studios also hired newcomers, on both behind and in front of the camera, to work on these movies as a way for them to learn the craft. Plenty of stars over the years got their start on movies such as this.

In 2014 we got a new Godzilla movie. The producers of that movie plan on making more monster movies that take place in the same movie monster universe.

Even though not the worst Godzilla movie I have seen, I have to say that I was left somewhat disappointed by it. I felt the film took forever to get to Godzilla and some of the actors were acting like they were in some bullshit Shakespeare play.

I actually like this Godzilla movie better;

For movie fans growing up that enjoyed science fiction and action movies, these type of films were always welcomed. Obviously some were better than others, some you could tell had more money in the budget than others but one always approached them the same way, you just tried to take them for what they were. So when I read they were going to do another King Kong to go with this latest movie universe, I was game.

The movie is titled “Kong: Skull Island” & the story unfolds in the island that Kong inhabits with other creatures. This Kong story mostly takes place in 1973 so it actually takes place before the last Godzilla movie. I’ll try not to give too much but still beware of spoilers.

The movie opens during World World 2 and we see Two fighter pilots crashing down on an island. Both of them survive, one is American & the other is Japanese. Once they spot one another they engage in a physical confrontation but both of them stop attacking each other when they come across King Kong. After that intro the story fast-forwards to 1973 when we meet a character played by John Goodman who through one of his agency’s satellite has discovered a new island and he enlists military personnel to accompany him on this mission of discovery. Some of the military personnel are played by Samuel L Jackson, Tom Hiddleston, plus a war photographer played by Brie Larson.

One of the things that I liked about this movie is that unlike the last Godzilla movie, this one doesn’t take forever to get to King Kong. Once they get to the island they encounter Kong and the action starts right away. Kong is not happy to see them and he starts laying the Gorilla SmackDown on all their asses. Needless to say, some make it, some don’t.

I will point out the positives first. The movie is never boring. As a matter of fact I thought it got a little bit better as it went along. One has to know that if you don’t want to watch an action movie that contains a lot of CGI fighting, then this movie is not for you. They don’t use guys wearing gorilla costumes, therefore the monsters are CGI and I do have to say that Kong actually in the big screen that I saw it, looked pretty good. In that regard I knew what to expect so I wasn’t disappointed. I knew what kind of action movie I was getting before I went to watch it.

The movie wasn’t bad for what it was, however I think it could have been a bit better and let me just start out by mentioning the cast. The 2 stand outs in this picture in my opinion are John C Reilly and Samuel Jackson. John C Reilly actually plays the young pilot that crashed in the island during World War II and he actually is a lot of fun in the picture. One mistake that they made here is that by the time the story picks up in 1973, the Japanese pilot has passed on. Reilly mentions that they were actually good friends up until his death and I would have liked to have seen the interaction between those too but instead they kill off the character.

Samuel L. Jackson as always plays Samuel L. Jackson, no matter what he’s doing his always Samuel L. Jackson. And that’s not a bad thing, I think that’s why we are all fans of his. When he got cast as a Jedi in Star Wars, he was the angriest Jedi in the fucking Galaxy! He could get cast as a priest and he will be in church like: ” ..Would you please.. Kiss Da MothaFuckin’ Bride!”

As I was watching the movie I thought to myself ” They should cast Samuel Jackson to go up against the Predator”, cause Jackson was not afraid to go up against Kong, which brings me to a negative.. the rest of the cast.

This movie has a huge cast that are mostly used as bait and that’s fine however you don’t really get to root for any of them aside from the two I just mentioned. A while back it was mentioned that Tom Hiddleston might be up for the role of James Bond and I sure as hell hope that he does not get to play that part because if Timothy Dalton took a shit, that shit will make a manlier James Bond than this fucking guy. I think this movie could have benefited from say someone like The Rock or Jason Statham at least. His character was supposed to have a clash of the alphas between his and the Sam Jackson character but he looked like a puppy when confronted by Jackson. Plus I think he had no chemistry with Brie Larson. If I suspected I had very little chance of survival & thought I had a short amount of time left, I would be trying to get laid like a mother fucker.

I do have to say that when you compare this movie with Peter Jackson’s movie I think Jackson’s movie is a better picture all around. Peter Jackson really, really loved King Kong and it showed, specially in his three-hour cut of the movie and I do have to say that over the years I’ve grown to appreciate that movie a little bit more. But this is still a very fun movie and it’s not a bad one, I just thought it could’ve been a bit better. So if you’re in the mood to watch a monster movie this one is a good one to kill some time with. If you’re a fan of the genre I think you’ll like this movie.

By the way for those who watch this movie there is a scene after the end credits. “Skull Island” is not the end-all-be-all of all monster movies but is entertaining nonetheless.