Kong: Skull Island (2017) Review

"That's Kong.  He's king around here."
-Hank Marlow



As the Vietnam War comes to an end, a mysterious island is discovered.  A team of scientists set out to explore the uncharted island along with a group of soldiers.  Their helicopters are all quickly brought down by the ruler of the island, Kong (Terry Notary).  Now the survivors have to find a way off the island and discover that Kong isn't the worst thing that lives there.


What Works:

Skull Island is a beautiful film.  It's a work of art.  The cinematography and visual effects look amazing and are truly a sight to behold.  This is how you do CGI.  If it doesn't look good, why bother having it?

This was the first monster movie I had ever seen, so the fights between Kong and Skullcrawlers were an absolute blast to watch.  Since this movie came out, I have seen plenty more monster movies and the fight scenes here still hold up.  The final battle is a lot of fun and very exciting.

My favorite sequence of the movie comes from Kong's attack on the helicopters.  It's a stunning sequence and an absolute blast.  The reveal of just how big Kong is looks great and you get the sense that nobody is safe very quickly.

Samuel L. Jackson gives the best performance of the film as Col. Packard, who goes a bit nuts over the course of the film.  Jackson is at his best when he is allowed to rage and it's crazy that he is able to match intensity with Kong himself.

Finally, I was a bit nervous about John C. Reilly's character, Hank Marlow, who has gone a bit kooky after living on the island for 28 years.  In the trailer, I thought he might be too over-the-top.  While he has a few goofy moments, he's an interesting character and Reilly does a great job, as always.


What Sucks:

There are a few places where the humor doesn't work.  This apples to most of the characters, but the biggest offender is Mills (Jason Mitchell).  He has a lot of jokes in the film and none of them really stick.

Finally, most of the characters are pretty thin and don't get much in terms of development.  The aforementioned Packard and Marlow are great, but every other character gets virtually nothing and there are more than a few that could have been 100% cut from the film.


Verdict:

Kong: Skull Island is an entertaining film with beautiful cinematography, amazing CGI, some excellent action sequences, and great performances from Jackson and Reilly.  Some of the humor falls flat and most of the characters are thin, but this movie has still got it going on.

 9/10: Great 



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