Kong: Skull Island

This review may contain spoilers!

This is a genuinely fun monster film that has some of the best visuals I could have hoped for a fresh take on Kong. I would give Kong: Skull Island a 7.5/10.

Surprisingly while Kong is a huge and awesome part of the film I really loved how the story set up Skull Island as the setting for the film. A mixture of giant creatures that roamed and attacked one another, a colony of humans lost to the world and protected by Kong himself and the menace of the Skullcrawlers who lurk somewhere deep below the earth. By throwing our outsider human characters into this foreign alien world they upset the eco-system and have to fend off threats from all sides. I really enjoyed this perspective on man vs. nature because you really felt like man was an unnatural element within the film, furthermore the nature vs. nature scenes were just as good cause you could see these beasts wrestling for control of the Island which was fascinating in and of itself. The fact that this film showed Kong pretty much from the beginning was a clever move as it really allowed Kong to act as a character within this film, as opposed to some hidden menace you're eventually confronted by in the final act. The cinematography was really nice to watch, framing really delivered so much in this film and you were left with a lot of visuals that just stuck with you long after you'd left the cinema. The special effects are the real triumph of the film; it's fascinating to see that we've come so far that Kong just looks so real nowadays, I was absolutely fascinated by him and the other beasts brought to life in such a unique way visually.

Tom Hiddleston, who played James Conrad, is great as the mercenary turned benevolent hero in the wilderness; I feel that in anyone else's hands this could have been a very stereotypical character but Hiddleston brings some really humanity to the role. John Goodman, who played Bill Randa, is a gruff role that seems to be holding cards no one has any clue about for most of this film; when it's revealed he knows all about the monsters that exist in this world you can hear the harrowing history of what horrors Goodman's role has seen. Corey Hawkins, who played Houston Brooks, really does the scrambling eager assistant to Goodman well; what I liked about Hawkins in particular though is that he feels knowledgeable in a way that is different to Goodman's character - he's more a man of reason. Jason Mitchell and Shea Whigham, who played Mills and Cole respectively, are a great duo that bounce off one another really well in this film; I liked the energy Mitchell poured into his character while Whigham had a weary snarkiness that grew on you throughout the film. Will Brittain and Miyavi, who played Young Marlow and Gunpei Ikari respectively, are basically the characters this film opens upon and they do a great job with it; I really enjoyed how their conflict played out and we could see them at such strong odds at each other which is a great parallel to Reilly's character and what he's experienced later on. Richard Jenkins, who played Senator Willis, is such a tough political role who is resoundingly over having to hear Goodman and Hawkins out before they've even met onscreen; I liked Jenkins as one of the introductory characters to the film and found that he really grounded the role in a convincing historical context.

However the best performance came from John C. Reilly, who played Hank Marlow. Reilly's role has been stranded upon the island for nearly thirty years and as you can expect he has his quirks after being separated from familiar civilization. Reilly is able to blend great comedic lines with a yearning for what he's lost, you feel that while he's immediately likeable as a character there's a fair bit of misery within him. In particular the scenes where Reilly talks about his family back home who might have moved on without him or his friend Gunpei who died not so long ago on the island. I really liked how Reilly's role had formed a bond with the native people of Skull Island; I also appreciated that he'd learnt so much from his friendship with Gunpei, right down to skill with a katana and an understanding of the Japanese language. Reilly brings forth a role who is funny, fascinating and a scene stealer, without a doubt he is one of the main reasons to see this film.

The major problem with the film's narrative that at least half of the cast you don't spend a great deal of time getting to know before the action moves to the island, this means that many of the characters aren't very well established so when they die or are placed in great danger you don't care what happens to many of them. I also love a good anti-war narrative as much as the next guy but the way this film painted soldiers seemed kinda naive, the kind of stance that soldiers are perpetual bringers of violence who seek out enemies is really played out and a bit generic. Monster movies tend to build up the level of the threats as well, for instance in this film they fought a giant spider at first, later they had their final confrontation with Kong and then Kong had to fight the giant 'big bad' Skullcrawler. This form of formulaic narrative gets fairly predictable and worn out after you've seen it used in monster movies so many times. The score for the film was a lot of fanfare and pomp but didn't stay with you; the soundtrack had some cool pieces within it but I didn't like how it was historically inconsistent when they'd been trying to create a constant tone for most of the film and then we get Pink songs dropping in out of nowhere for no purpose.

Samuel L. Jackson, who played Preston Packard, is probably the biggest miscast of the entire film; Jackson feels so far removed from the stoic war-mongering soldier that it's laughable. Brie Larson, who played Mason Weaver, gives a very stony and emotionless performance in this film; it feels like Larson's role has only been added to remind audiences that Kong has a soft spot for human women. John Ortiz and Marc Evan Jackson, who played Victor Nieves and Landsat Steve respectively, were wearing the 'blue jackets of death' throughout the film which seemed to be about all they provided; Ortiz and Jackson gave nothing to this film and really only seemed to be included so that there was some fodder to be killed off throughout. Jing Tian, who played San, didn't really serve a purpose and shouldn't have been in the feature; she really just followed Hawkins around and occasionally repeated what he said. Toby Kebbell, who played Jack Chapman, is painted as this bleeding heart soldier but you just never really connect with his 'emotional' backstory of being an absent father; Kebbell's role sits back for most of the film and then dies quite suddenly for no reason at all. Thomas Mann, who played Slivko, is that young plucky side role that seems to be in every blockbuster who no one cares much for; Mann forms no connections with the rest of the cast and he was very easy to forget about. Eugene Cordero, who played Reles, could have been interchangeable for anyone; a soldier role with no substance and nothing to add to the film.