Though Peter Jackson's ambitious yet exhausting remake of King Kong was released nearly twelve years ago, Kong: Skull Island still seemed to be something of an abrupt reboot when it was announced. Then again, Hollywood seems to grow increasingly unable wait when it comes to recycling ideas or rushing out sequels. This usually results in a plethora of pretentious superhero films or blindingly overblown science fiction cash cows. In the case of Skull Island however, Hollywood finally got it right.
Released mainly to embed Kong into the same Legendary Pictures shared universe beginning with the studio's 2014 reboot of Godzilla, Skull Island bears none of that film's attempt at scope or nuance. It is a lean, mean piece of action-adventure that rarely, if ever feigns to be anything else. At a relatively condensed run time of almost two hours (perhaps in response to the Peter Jackson entry), the plot moves along at a satisfyingly fast pace yet so much is told to a point where it feels like a solid two hours. Within the first thirty minutes, the human cast is well stranded on the namesake island setting and the big star is revealed in the flesh.
The film is that rare epic science fiction
monolith which proves that there is an art to making a good big, dumb
monster movie. Some, like Legendary's Godzilla fall prey to their
own pretensions and fail to entertain while the average Marvel film is
so overblown with unbelievably blinding action to a point where it all
becomes numbing. The monster sequences in Skull Island actually demonstrate touches of nuance and craft, often verging on being truly intense. There's a particular scene where Kong spins a helicopter in the air and we catch a flash of his face through the door, which proves to be impressively frightening. Skull Island doesn't attempt to up the ante in terms of its CGI creativity, and is a better film for it. When characters are eaten by an island monster or a helicopter crashes, it's genuinely exciting.
The human characters of Skull Island are mostly uninteresting and serve mainly as props to further the plot, but no one goes to Kong: Skull Island expecting unforgettable humans. Still, the cast makes the most of their garden variety roles. John Goodman and Samuel L. Jackson in particular turn in routinely strong performances as the typical government man and an unhinged military colonel bent on revenge, respectively. Kong himself is the only character audiences will care to rate, and he looks better than ever standing at over 100 ft. tall. In terms of design, Kong still bears the more realistically ape-like visage of Jackson's CGI imagining while bringing back some of the more monstrous features seen in earlier Kong films, including King Kong vs. Godzilla.
Atmosphere is one of the film's strongest virtues. Set at the end of the Vietnam War in 1973, Skull Island features the expected period references and a rich soundtrack featuring some standards of the era in addition to a few surprises (David Bowie and the Stooges in particular). The filmmakers take full advantage of the Vietnam-era time period, fitting the film's humid jungle setting like a glove. There are times when Skull Island bears the obvious visual influence of Platoon and Apocalypse Now, and it really works with Kong and his home.
Overall, Kong: Skull Island will probably not endure as a noteworthy classic or even come close to touching the magic of the original film, but is easily one of the most thoroughly entertaining, well made sci-fi popcorn flicks I've seen since Cloverfield, and it has a better sense of humor to boot. It wastes not a minute on pointless sociological diatribes, nor does it flex its CGI for the sake of exhibition.
I spent every minute of the film enjoying Kong stomp on people, brawling with giant bugs and even chuckling at corny jokes courtesy of John C. Reilly's character. Never once did I find myself wondering about my Instagram or rolling my eyes at something silly on screen. It was a well spent $18.95. Go see it, and see it in a theater.
8/10
