One of the first classic films of cinema I remember identifying with was King Kong. When I was in the years of my early childhood, I was fortunate enough to get on the Kongfronatation ride at Universal Studios when it was still functional. That sparked an obsession. I will never forget the sheer disappoint I had in my heart when I heard that my classmates in elementary school booed a screening of the original 1933 Kong. To me, this was a great monster movie, and there is no way that anyone could possibly hate it! To make it short, I have always had a deep love for King Kong, and was obsessed with how he was to be depicted. When the 2005 version of Kong was released, I remember leaving the movies uninspired, even at the age of 10. To me, they had ruined my idea of how our giant simian friend was depicted, and I was greatly disappointed. So, of course, when Kong: Skull Island was released, I knew I had to see it.
Kong: Skull Island is the second entry in Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures shared Monsterverse. the first entry was Godzilla (2014), which I felt to be slightly underwhelming. My sentiment has always been that in any monster movie, human conflict always drags down the true nature of the monsters. the whole plot of a family trying to be reunited in Godzilla warranted several eye rolls from me as an audience member. To be perfectly honest, I am not even sure we need the shared cinematic MonsterVerse. It seems that every studio is trying to find a way to copy Marvel's model that has made them billions of dollars. That being said, I think it is making individual films more and more uninspired, as they become part of a much larger and unnecessary vision.
One thing I will say about the writing of Kong is that the human characters were uninspired and unmemorable by the end of the film, I could maybe name one of the main characters. That is how easily forgettable they were. Incredibly underdeveloped and mundane, I never felt a real reason to care for these characters. Being as there was no central protagonist, the fractured lives of a cast of characters made me ignore them completely. Also, I felt the that there was very little conflict resolution for most of the characters. also, the studio shamelessly cast Chinese actress Tian Jing in a bit role. This is obviously to appeal to the Chinese and global audience, which is becoming more and more of an issue in contemporary blockbuster filmmaking. This is especially problematic when Chinese companies are starting to take majority control in major Hollywood studios. For example, Legendary Studios, that produced this film, is now owned by Chinese investors. In the next couple of years, China will be the biggest box office in the world, even surpassing the United States. This means that studios will do anything they have to to reach this giant global audience to maximize box office profit.
I will say that Kong Skull Island tried desperately to develop some real relevant socio-political themes, even having John Goodman mutter the line, "There will never be a crazier time in Washington." The setting of the Vietnam War was present, as much as they tried to force is. There were consistent homages to classic movies depicting the Vietnam War, such as "Born to Breed" engraved on one of the soldier's helmets. in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, Private Joker's helmet has "Born to Kill" written on the side of it. Also, it is very apparent that director Jordan Vogt-Roberts has seen Apocalypse Now many times. This very evident throughout the film. the production team even had a poster made that looks somewhat familiar.
All the elements of a Vietnam War movie are there. From thematic elements of war vs. peace to a blazing soundtrack of Creedence Clearwater Revival, Kong: Skull Island tries desperately to fit into the aesthetic. However, I am not sure that it successfully accomplishes this goal in the slighest. There is something to be said for the classic 1930s setting that Kong has always had, and without it, I felt as if something was missing entirely. There were homages to the original film subtly sprinkled throughout, but they felt too subtle to even notice.
Now that I have spent the last two paragraphs slamming what I really did not like about the movie. throughout mostly choppy dialogue, there were some moments of brilliance in the dialogue, mostly spoken by John C. Reilly's Captain Hank Marlow. Also, the battle scenes are breathtaking. As I have always felt the monsters, not the human should be the focus of the movies. Humans are mostly unnecessary. I don't go to see these movies to learn about human interest causes; I go to them because I want to see monsters blow shit up. Kong really brings to the front the brutality and cruelty of the monsters that reside on the island with striking and surprising violence.
Overall, Kong: Skull Island is a decently fun movie. It is great to see on a big screen and it is moderately enjoyable. However, I do think that it is a very flawed and undeveloped film, and is not any way, shape, or form an innovative action film in the slightest.
(Score: 7/10)
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