In the day and age where literally everyone is trying to start a cinematic shared universe, Warner Bros. has already failed on their first attempt by many viewers’ standards. Almost acting in the opposite of DC’s approach to announcing and developing one, Legendary has teamed up with the same company to develop the newly-dubbed Monsterverse, taking it slow with Godzilla in 2014 and, now, Kong: Skull Island. So does it work?
In short: Yes. Whereas the DC universe tried catching up to Marvel, Kong: Skull Island is more self contained by comparison, focusing on the titular monster instead and all the while vastly expanding the Monsterverse beyond Kong and previously-established monsters. Packed with phenomenal and mostly consistent cinematography and plenty of creature action, Kong: Skull Island only stumbles when it comes to its characters and some design choices, that at times help the movie overall but also damage it concurrently.
Being a fan of kaiju films for the majority of my life, I tend to recognize that the idea of these creatures existing is, in itself, highly illogical. With this in mind, studios have been putting the emphasis on fun and the creatures to make up the genre’s conventions, with very few deviating from the norm. While there are noteworthy exceptions, Kong leans to being more of a movie with artistic value to it instead of a film on the level of the last remake from Peter Jackson. From the get-go, the cinematography is excellent, with the comparison to Apocalypse Now’s visuals being immediately obvious. Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts and cinematographer Larry Fong are only second to the titular monster and his habitat, as their vision and skills combine into one nearly flawless looking movie. At times the cinematography is bogged down by the lower-end of the CGI present, of which there is a lot, but for the grand majority of the movie it looks tremendous.
Kong himself and the CGI rendering of Skull Island are the true stars of the movie, however, as every moment Kong is on screen he is practically filling the screen. Whether it be fighting the nefarious Skullcrawlers or smashing the helicopters upon his proper introduction, Kong looks stellar, with as much detail and care given to him in the same way that it was done for Godzilla nearly three years prior. His fights are intense and, much like the original films, he has a sense of humanity that makes him sympathetic. King Kong Lives and King Kong Escapes, this definitely is not, seeing as when he’s not being a sad lone wolf, he’s brutally taking down monsters and the soldiers he’s marooned on the island.
The plot itself is simple enough, as to why these soldiers are here: Monarch, a secret government agency, has been given funding to explore this mythical Skull Island, and to map out the terrain the team chooses to do so with shockwaves from bombs. Obviously, as these movies typically play out, this is a bad idea and they aren’t given much time to consider their mistake as Kong shows up. This separates the survivors, setting forth the film’s events that transpire across the island. The island itself becomes the focus of the film, with the monsters and the location being more developed than its characters, which brings this into the film’s existing problems.
Nobody is going to question the acting credibility of the likes of Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, or John Goodman, that’s for sure. That being said, the film does very little with them and simply uses their character tropes to move the story forward. It seems, in response to Godzilla, the humans take a backseat, despite being necessary to move the plot, all in favor of giving plenty of creature action. While this is commendable, it becomes astonishing at how flawed the writing for everyone is at times. There’s little-to-no character development, save for maybe two characters, (Three at most) and while this is perfectly fine in a movie where the focus should be on the monsters, it becomes questionable as to why so many people were written into the movie to begin with. Samuel L. Jackson, Corey Hawkins, and John C. Reilly do fine jobs, the latter being (surprisingly) the most entertaining actor on screen, but the likes of several of the soldiers, as well as Jing Tian’s character, are highly expendable. Corey Hawkins, a fine actor in his own right, barely gets the pass here, and a trek through the jungle led by Jackson’s character for plot reasons seems pointless and could have been written in a better way than to add tension in the third act.
That being said, the aforementioned John C. Reilly and Samuel L. Jackson are among the better of the bunch, being given more to work with. Jackson himself is rather convincing as a Lieutenant Colonel who is trying to salvage his sense of purpose from the Vietnam War. The actor who unfortunately gets the short end of the stick in this is Brie Larson’s character, who fails to really do all that much. She takes photographs and has a scene or two with Kong to invoke some sympathy, but she ultimately seems lost on the island. It would be understandable if she were afraid, and it might’ve even been more harrowing for a war photographer to break in a place like this, but she acts very much like a soldier, snapping photos every step along the way.
Even with its character problems, the film’s plot still flows, albeit with some choppy editing sequences. Never for a moment did I say “Let’s get on with this, show me the monsters,” as Skull Island is filled to the brim with wildlife that come out of left field. Usually the creatures come with a gruesome death attached to their entrance, pushing the PG-13 boundary at times in the same way Peter Jackson’s King Kong did. While it never manages to conjure that much intensity or majesty as a “film,” the creatures present keep the plot moving forward and entirely entertaining well into its intense and exciting third act. Concerning the editing, however, it feels like the movie was cut down to two hours as a means to avoid dragging on too long. Yet it seems like character development and longer shots were taken out to do this, giving the impression that there’s about ten minutes of the film not present. If there will be, a director’s cut would be welcomed.
Kong: Skull Island doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but instead speeds it back up where Godzilla left off. As part of the Monsterverse, it avoids any missteps that its predecessor made, while still falling short in some aspects. While the CGI falls short at times and the cast’s writing could have been handled better, the sights are spectacles, the action is immensely entertaining, and the creatures and monsters take center-stage. Sometimes you just gotta take it at face value for what it is.
Kong: Skull Island is now playing everywhere.
