KONG SKULL ISLAND
Director : Jordan Vogt Roberts
Year : 2017
Genre : Science Fiction
Rating : ***
Despite its rather lacklustre critical reception, I absolutely loved Gareth Edwards 2014 blockbuster smash 'Godzilla'. It was intelligently written, it was consistently thrilling to watch and, most importantly, it managed to breathe new life into the mythology of the King of the Monsters while still maintaining the core antinuclear ideology of Ishiro Honda's original 1954 creation.
So when it was announced that 'Godzilla' would actually provide the foundations for Legendary Productions MonsterVerse, you bet I was excited. As a teenager, I ravenously lapped up the many entertaining Kaiju movies that starred the iconic fire-breathing lizard and the thought of seeing Godzilla going up against Rodan, King Ghidorah, Mothra and Destroyah on the big screen was a promise almost too good to be true. However, before we meet those bad beasties, we must first be introduced to arguably Godzilla's most famous adversary, the Eighth wonder of the world himself, King Kong.
Directed by Jordan Vogt Roberts ('The Kings Of Summer') and featuring an all star cast including Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, John Goodman, Samuel L. Jackson and John C. Reilly to name just a few, 'Kong Skull Island' is the 7th movie to star the iconic giant ape and the first to change up this classic story of man vs. nature.
Ever since his startling first appearance in Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack's 1933 science fiction masterpiece, the Lord of the Primates has become a cinematic staple whose image and power has barely been altered over his many different incaranations. From the glorious stop motion majesty of his 1933 original to Peter Jackson's 2005 motion capture work, this monstrous monkey has always provided audiences with adrenaline pumping thrills and heart-wrenching emotion. Well, at least 'Kong Skull Island' has the first box ticked.
Ever since his startling first appearance in Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack's 1933 science fiction masterpiece, the Lord of the Primates has become a cinematic staple whose image and power has barely been altered over his many different incaranations. From the glorious stop motion majesty of his 1933 original to Peter Jackson's 2005 motion capture work, this monstrous monkey has always provided audiences with adrenaline pumping thrills and heart-wrenching emotion. Well, at least 'Kong Skull Island' has the first box ticked.
Set during the closing days of the Vietnam War, the film sees a ragtag group of soldiers and scientists travelling to an uncharted island in the middle of the Pacific. Having successfully made their way through the lightning-strewn vortexes that surround it, the group begin to drop seismic bombs in the Earth to map its geological structure but by doing so, they inadvertently awaken the mighty Kong who swiftly proceeds to destroy their helicopters and dispatch with a great number of the team. Now stranded in a unknown land with no hope of communication, our survivors must make their way from one end of the island to the other. However, that may not be easy as Kong is not the only animal to live in this beautiful yet dangerous paradise.
The first thing to say about 'Kong Skull Island' is that, despite its numerous problems, it is a very enjoyable movie filled with thrilling set pieces plenty of chest-thumping action. The many creatures including Kong himself are all bought to life with stunning CGI and the sense of scale is truly wonderful with a number of ape vs. creature fight scenes proving to be some the most thrilling cinema I have seen so far in 2017. Five times bigger than any of his Empire State Building climbing predecessors, this is a truly giant gorilla and I eagerly await his upcoming tussle with Godzilla in the aptly named 'Godzilla Vs. Kong' due for release in 2020.
Another highlight is Larry Fong's vibrant cinematography which effortlessly calls to mind the great Vietnam movies of old. In fact, with it's vermilion and crimson skies as well as it's eclectic jukebox soundtrack which includes songs by Black Sabbath and David Bowie, a more appropriate title for this movie would be "Apeocalypse Now" due to it's striking visual and audio symmetry with Francis Ford Coppola's celebrated 1979 classic. But for all of it's visual wonder, 'Kong Skull Island' collapses at, what is for me, the most important hurdle.
While I do greatly enjoy Edward's 'Godzilla', I am not blind to its problems, namely that of it's barely developed characters. But in comparison to those of 'Kong Skull Island', the characters in 'Godzilla' are wonderfully fleshed out, fully nuanced archetypes. However this is not the fault of the performers but rather the frankly terrible screenplay that fails to balance comedy and drama. Tom Hiddleston is a fine actor capable of great emotional depth but his character could easily be removed from the story without making any difference to the overall plot while Academy Award winner Brie Larson gratefully makes the most of her pretty thankless role as a plucky anti-war photographer.
Even the great Samuel L. Jackson fails to impress as the dull as ditchwater Captain Ahab-like army colonel who vows revenge against the ape who killed his men. The only saving grace comes in the form of John C. Reilly who is wonderfully wacky as an exposition-spouting World War II pilot who crash landed on the island 30 years before but even his one liners and witty asides become tiresome after a short while. In short, the creatures are great. The humans are not.
As the newest entry in a cinematic universe, 'Kong Skull Island' is a perfectly serviceable action blockbuster. It's loud, it's thrilling and despite it's misgivings, its a hell of a lot of fun. But as a spiritual sequel to one of my favourite movies of recent years, it is a tonally disparate, poorly written disappointment. Don't get me wrong, I am still invested in this MonsterVerse - be sure to stay for the rip-roaring end credits sequence - and I wait for 'Godzilla Vs. Kong' with bated breath. I just hope that future writers and directors in this series remember that monster movies are not just about the monsters themselves but also the people who are confronting them.
The first thing to say about 'Kong Skull Island' is that, despite its numerous problems, it is a very enjoyable movie filled with thrilling set pieces plenty of chest-thumping action. The many creatures including Kong himself are all bought to life with stunning CGI and the sense of scale is truly wonderful with a number of ape vs. creature fight scenes proving to be some the most thrilling cinema I have seen so far in 2017. Five times bigger than any of his Empire State Building climbing predecessors, this is a truly giant gorilla and I eagerly await his upcoming tussle with Godzilla in the aptly named 'Godzilla Vs. Kong' due for release in 2020.
Another highlight is Larry Fong's vibrant cinematography which effortlessly calls to mind the great Vietnam movies of old. In fact, with it's vermilion and crimson skies as well as it's eclectic jukebox soundtrack which includes songs by Black Sabbath and David Bowie, a more appropriate title for this movie would be "Apeocalypse Now" due to it's striking visual and audio symmetry with Francis Ford Coppola's celebrated 1979 classic. But for all of it's visual wonder, 'Kong Skull Island' collapses at, what is for me, the most important hurdle.
While I do greatly enjoy Edward's 'Godzilla', I am not blind to its problems, namely that of it's barely developed characters. But in comparison to those of 'Kong Skull Island', the characters in 'Godzilla' are wonderfully fleshed out, fully nuanced archetypes. However this is not the fault of the performers but rather the frankly terrible screenplay that fails to balance comedy and drama. Tom Hiddleston is a fine actor capable of great emotional depth but his character could easily be removed from the story without making any difference to the overall plot while Academy Award winner Brie Larson gratefully makes the most of her pretty thankless role as a plucky anti-war photographer.
Even the great Samuel L. Jackson fails to impress as the dull as ditchwater Captain Ahab-like army colonel who vows revenge against the ape who killed his men. The only saving grace comes in the form of John C. Reilly who is wonderfully wacky as an exposition-spouting World War II pilot who crash landed on the island 30 years before but even his one liners and witty asides become tiresome after a short while. In short, the creatures are great. The humans are not.
As the newest entry in a cinematic universe, 'Kong Skull Island' is a perfectly serviceable action blockbuster. It's loud, it's thrilling and despite it's misgivings, its a hell of a lot of fun. But as a spiritual sequel to one of my favourite movies of recent years, it is a tonally disparate, poorly written disappointment. Don't get me wrong, I am still invested in this MonsterVerse - be sure to stay for the rip-roaring end credits sequence - and I wait for 'Godzilla Vs. Kong' with bated breath. I just hope that future writers and directors in this series remember that monster movies are not just about the monsters themselves but also the people who are confronting them.
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