Kong: Skull Island - Movie Review!

Who's In It?

Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, John C. Reilly, Samuel L. Jackson and John Goodman


What's It About?

When a pair of American 'scientists' convince a congressman to grant them military escort to a newly discovered island, the giant ape king doesn't take kindly to them bombing it for 'research'.

Any Good?

My biggest fear going into this movie was that they'd just not have King Kong in it in at all, like they did with Godzilla 2014 and Godzilla not really being in it. Thankfully, almost immediately Kong creeps into shot and lets out a scream worthy of The King of Monsters itself.

Most of the time, the film is actually beautiful. Lots of shots of the jungle and long sunset shots (including AMAZING ones of Kong) recall Apocalypse Now, as well as the indigenous tribe looking absolutely fantastic. This sadly made it all the more noticeable when the background CG was less quality than the norm, ESPECIALLY when the big wall moved. 

All of the monsters were fantastic, and I MUCH preferred the Skullcrawlers to the dinos of the 2005 film. One mediocre spot was the acting, it was fine, but almost the definition of 'serviceable'.

Nobody is really special, with Tom Hiddleston being the handsome lead man that strikes some (great, honestly) heroic poses and Brie Larson being the beautiful Kong interest. 

The only above-par character was Samuel L. Jackson, and he was ridiculous in the best way. I was surprised by John C. Reilly's character - he was comic relief of course, but he was written juuust right so it wasn't obnoxious and drags you out of the film.

Of course, the actors don't really matter in a film like this (HINT F*@#ING HINT GODZILLA 2014), what matters is the monsters. Kong is badass, the fights are huge, loud and SO satisfying, and it gives me a lot of hope for Godzilla: King of Monsters; and this whole new franchise. Both OTT and beautiful (most of the time), I was very pleasantly surprised by Kong: Skull Island, and had a blast.

P.S.A - THE AFTER CREDITS SCENE IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, MAKE SURE TO STAY BACK FOR IT AND SQUEAL WITH JOY LIKE MYSELF AND THE GROUP IN FRONT OF ME IN THE CINEMA.

Rating: