Giant Monsters battle, people get in the way on 'Kong: Skull Island'
I saw this movie in Russian. Something may have been lost in the translation.
In a film where both Tom Hiddleston and Samuel Jackson seem to phone in their performances and Brie Larson fairs only slightly better, you might think that there really isn’t much to see here. You’d only be half right. Sure, most of the main characters are stereotypes, so much so that you might begin to wonder if a movie about island discovery and giant creatures could exist without those stereotypes.
John Goodman takes his turn as the John Hammond of the film though he has to beg his money from the U.S. government. Samuel Jackson is the Army. Hiddleston is the mercenary with special skills that appear to be most useful in a bar fight.
Even John C. Reilly plays the Ben Gunn (crazy guy marooned on an island) stereotype; however, Reilly’s character has one huge difference. It is Reilly who is playing the character, and he steals every scene that he is in without exception.
As with every monster film since the emergence of CGI, Kong: Skull Island can’t wait to show you the monster, and Kong suffers from the decision. Waiting to show the monster builds up suspense and creates a moment where the audience can bask in the final reveal of the unknown. Done correctly, Kong could have inspired all of the impressiveness of the dinosaurs from Jurassic Park. Instead, while he is cool and well done, the movie misses the awe factor.
Kong: Skull Island has thrown down the gauntlet for great movie soundtrack featuring songs from the past. Because the movie is set at the end of the Vietnam War, it mines some of the best music from that era. The only question is, “Will it be a better soundtrack than Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2?”
In the end, the audience came for Kong, and he doesn’t disappoint. Kong swaggers over his island like the god he is. He fights giant monsters and is almost everything that you could want from King Kong. He still lacks the emotional depth of some earlier versions and the attempts that the film made to give him depth fall flat. That said, this film was still interesting with surprising moments and jump scares and the monsters are frighteningly convincing.
In a film where both Tom Hiddleston and Samuel Jackson seem to phone in their performances and Brie Larson fairs only slightly better, you might think that there really isn’t much to see here. You’d only be half right. Sure, most of the main characters are stereotypes, so much so that you might begin to wonder if a movie about island discovery and giant creatures could exist without those stereotypes.
John Goodman takes his turn as the John Hammond of the film though he has to beg his money from the U.S. government. Samuel Jackson is the Army. Hiddleston is the mercenary with special skills that appear to be most useful in a bar fight.
Even John C. Reilly plays the Ben Gunn (crazy guy marooned on an island) stereotype; however, Reilly’s character has one huge difference. It is Reilly who is playing the character, and he steals every scene that he is in without exception.
As with every monster film since the emergence of CGI, Kong: Skull Island can’t wait to show you the monster, and Kong suffers from the decision. Waiting to show the monster builds up suspense and creates a moment where the audience can bask in the final reveal of the unknown. Done correctly, Kong could have inspired all of the impressiveness of the dinosaurs from Jurassic Park. Instead, while he is cool and well done, the movie misses the awe factor.
Kong: Skull Island has thrown down the gauntlet for great movie soundtrack featuring songs from the past. Because the movie is set at the end of the Vietnam War, it mines some of the best music from that era. The only question is, “Will it be a better soundtrack than Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2?”
In the end, the audience came for Kong, and he doesn’t disappoint. Kong swaggers over his island like the god he is. He fights giant monsters and is almost everything that you could want from King Kong. He still lacks the emotional depth of some earlier versions and the attempts that the film made to give him depth fall flat. That said, this film was still interesting with surprising moments and jump scares and the monsters are frighteningly convincing.