Kong: Skull Island - Review
Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman, Brie Larson, John C. Reilly, Toby Kebbell, Corey Hawkins
Shared universes are all the rage in Hollywood nowadays; Disney's Marvel have fathomed a superhero heavy world where characters such as Iron Man and Captain America throw down one another. Warner Brothers' DC possesses a similar world with their roster of superheroes including Batman, Wonder Woman and Harley Quinn, but the studio now adds another shared universe to their collection - monsters. 2014's Godzilla kicked things off and 2017 sees the arrival of the legendary King Kong, with the plan to eventually unite the iconic monsters. But is this new iteration of the almighty ape worth beating your chest about?
AN uncharted island in the Pacific Ocean tickles the curiosity of a group of soldiers, scientists and adventurers, but what they find is bigger and badder than anything they've been trained for. Confronted by Kong and various other deadly mythical creatures, their mission becomes one of survival as humanity has no place on Skull Island.
Trailers for the flick provided the eyes with endless visual satisfaction and director Jordan Vogt-Roberts is clearly relishing the opportunity to dig his teeth into a tent-pole picture, excited by the scope that a film about the most famous fictional ape ever affords him. Whilst the film is undeniably gorgeous with clear inspiration drawn from Francis Ford Coppola's epic Apocalypse Now as the statuesque Kong stands agains the blaring sunset as helicopters descend upon him. The imagery and colour grading is sumptuous but an inescapable thought pervades throughout; The feeling and shot-by-shot nature of the storyboard is acutely obvious and every artistic choice is brought to our attention. Nothing feels natural or organic, and a film that revolves around giant mythical creatures could use all the realism it can scrapple. As an audience, we should not be privy to the filmmakers' choices with the camera, but in the case of Kong: Skull Island, we are painfully so.
Attempts to weave moments of levity and humour into the thinly plotted spectacle are also glaringly noticeable and just plain unfunny. Banter and camaraderie between soldier that is strived for falls spectacularly flat, with their interactions failing to raise even the slightest of smiles. Meanwhile, the comedy burden largely falls upon John C. Reilly's shoulders. He tries with all his might to pull off the gags, but alas, the poor material prevails. For example, as the team approach a gorilla graveyard, Reilly's character booms, "Smell that? That's death!" Thanks for that! The skeletons weren't quite enough for audiences to come to that conclusion on their own.
Characters also suffer from severe underdevelopment, and as I write this, I struggle to recall most of their names. The main players who are recruited to join the mission are given Suicide Squad esque introductions; Tom Hiddleston's Captain James Conrad (one of two character names I remember) can wield a snooker cue like no other and take down several men single handedly - now that's someone you want on your team in a land presumed to harbour perilous monsters! The eye rolls are profuse. Brie Larson's photo-journalist Mason Weaver can be summarised with these brief statements: she's a photographer. She's anti - war. She's a woman. That's the amount of depth that Kong: Skull Island allows its characters.
In regards to the main attraction, Kong, his depiction here is as empathetic as it ever has been. Hunted by humans, he defends himself and his territory against the beings that want to destroy him. However, he has to share the limelight with other fantastic beasts including the garish Skullcrawlers, water buffalos and flesh thirsty arachnids. Unfortunately, none of the above are given enough screen time to truly resonate and the result is an unimpressionable one.
Even a shoddy film can provide some mild entertainment, but Kong: Skull Island triggers eye rolls and haughty derision as opposed to shudders of excitement. It seems in an effort to make a really cool-looking film, Vogt-Roberts neglected to make a good one.
EB
Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman, Brie Larson, John C. Reilly, Toby Kebbell, Corey Hawkins
AN uncharted island in the Pacific Ocean tickles the curiosity of a group of soldiers, scientists and adventurers, but what they find is bigger and badder than anything they've been trained for. Confronted by Kong and various other deadly mythical creatures, their mission becomes one of survival as humanity has no place on Skull Island.
Trailers for the flick provided the eyes with endless visual satisfaction and director Jordan Vogt-Roberts is clearly relishing the opportunity to dig his teeth into a tent-pole picture, excited by the scope that a film about the most famous fictional ape ever affords him. Whilst the film is undeniably gorgeous with clear inspiration drawn from Francis Ford Coppola's epic Apocalypse Now as the statuesque Kong stands agains the blaring sunset as helicopters descend upon him. The imagery and colour grading is sumptuous but an inescapable thought pervades throughout; The feeling and shot-by-shot nature of the storyboard is acutely obvious and every artistic choice is brought to our attention. Nothing feels natural or organic, and a film that revolves around giant mythical creatures could use all the realism it can scrapple. As an audience, we should not be privy to the filmmakers' choices with the camera, but in the case of Kong: Skull Island, we are painfully so.
Attempts to weave moments of levity and humour into the thinly plotted spectacle are also glaringly noticeable and just plain unfunny. Banter and camaraderie between soldier that is strived for falls spectacularly flat, with their interactions failing to raise even the slightest of smiles. Meanwhile, the comedy burden largely falls upon John C. Reilly's shoulders. He tries with all his might to pull off the gags, but alas, the poor material prevails. For example, as the team approach a gorilla graveyard, Reilly's character booms, "Smell that? That's death!" Thanks for that! The skeletons weren't quite enough for audiences to come to that conclusion on their own.
Characters also suffer from severe underdevelopment, and as I write this, I struggle to recall most of their names. The main players who are recruited to join the mission are given Suicide Squad esque introductions; Tom Hiddleston's Captain James Conrad (one of two character names I remember) can wield a snooker cue like no other and take down several men single handedly - now that's someone you want on your team in a land presumed to harbour perilous monsters! The eye rolls are profuse. Brie Larson's photo-journalist Mason Weaver can be summarised with these brief statements: she's a photographer. She's anti - war. She's a woman. That's the amount of depth that Kong: Skull Island allows its characters.
In regards to the main attraction, Kong, his depiction here is as empathetic as it ever has been. Hunted by humans, he defends himself and his territory against the beings that want to destroy him. However, he has to share the limelight with other fantastic beasts including the garish Skullcrawlers, water buffalos and flesh thirsty arachnids. Unfortunately, none of the above are given enough screen time to truly resonate and the result is an unimpressionable one.
Even a shoddy film can provide some mild entertainment, but Kong: Skull Island triggers eye rolls and haughty derision as opposed to shudders of excitement. It seems in an effort to make a really cool-looking film, Vogt-Roberts neglected to make a good one.
EB
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