Kong: Skull Island (2017) Review

 

Kong: Skull Island (2017)

Kong: Skull Island follows Captain James Conrad, who leads a group of scientists and soldiers into Skull Island, where they come across more than they bargained for in Kong, king of the island.

By now, you all should know I’m not one for needless period pieces, but I’ll admit, this is not one of those. The well-trodden Vietnam era not only makes sense here but is crucial to the story, closely paralleling the events on the island and Monarch’s invasion of it, seeing themselves as the hero of their own tale. This metaphor is pulled off extremely well and thus makes the annoying human element feel fresh and adds a sense of moral urgency to the plot. Every character had a purpose and added a great deal, with Vietnam’s conclusion being integral to the motivations and fate of those involved.
Kong himself was awesome and while he could have used a lot more screen time, what we did get with him was brutal, fast paced, and almost always exhilarating. His fights with the skull-crawlers and military felt emotionally charged, and really liked how he was a misunderstood native in a sense, just defending his home.

Visually, we get strong inspirations from Apocalypse Now, cleverly using the sun and it’s natural orange glow as a highlighting background to shroud Kong in a fiery fury, always highlighting how large and intimidating the oversized gorilla is at all times.

Skull Island boasts as impressively large cast, starring Samuel L. Jackson, Shea Whigham, John C. Riley, John Goodman, Jason Mitchell, Brie Larson, and Tom Hiddelston. Larson’s arrogance, for once is quite refreshing and while Riley’s comedy feels out of place, he’s certainly one of the better aspects of the movie. Jackson’s motivations are also interesting, as a captain who felt he must atone for losing the war, Kong is his retribution.

Kong: Skull Island. directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts, is an expertly thought out metaphor for the Vietnam War, placing Kong in the role of the defender in this new reimagining of the character that impresses on many fronts.

7.7/10