'Kong: Skull Island' Movie Review

Hello, fellow moviegoers!
   Kong: Skull Island is directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts, and it stars Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, John C. Reily, John Goodman, and Samuel L. Jackson. It follows a group of explorers as they travel to a newly discovered Skull Island during the conclusion of the Vietnam War. On this island, they quickly discover a massive ape known to the island natives as Kong. As the explorers struggle with whether or not to trust Kong, they have many violent encounters with other mysterious creatures on the island.

   Kong: Skull Island is a film that works, just maybe not as well as it could’ve. There are a lot of things that work really well in this film, but when they miss the mark, it’s really obvious. All of the action scenes in this film were incredibly intense, and Kong himself was something to behold, however, the characters in the film were pretty bland. Kong's great cast wasn’t given enough to do with their characters. The film was still enjoyable due to Kong and the great action scenes that accompany him, but it feels like it should've been better than it was.
   First and foremost, Kong looked amazing in this movie. His character design was very different from that of Peter Jackson’s 2005 film, yet it is still obvious that it is King Kong. (Though I don’t think they ever actually refer to him as “King Kong”; he’s usually just referred to as “Kong” in this movie.) Every time he was on screen, the movie became significantly more entertaining, which is good because he is in this film quite a bit. It’s not like 2014’s Godzilla where they tease him out the whole film and have a big reveal with him at the end. From the moment they arrive on the island, Kong is there in all of his kingly glory.
   The casting in this film was fantastic. There were a lot of really big names attached to this project. In the forefront of the film are Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, and John C. Reily. Though the cast also includes the likes of John Goodman, Toby Kebbell (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), Corey Hawkins (Straight Outta Compton), and Jason Mitchell (also Straight Outta Compton). The cast in this film is full of great actors, and they definitely bring some star power to the film.
   Though the cast is impressive, it isn’t fully utilized. That’s mainly due to the blandness of the characters. There wasn’t nearly enough for the actors to do in these roles. The characters are caricatures of your typical action adventure movie heroes. Tom Hiddleston plays the smoldering adventurer, Samuel L. Jackson plays the army general, John C. Reily plays the comedic relief, and Brie Larson plays the girl. That’s about the extent of their characters. The only thing that made these characters interesting were the actors behind them. The performances were fine across the board, but the characters were really boring and cliché.
   The most intriguing thing about this film, to me, is the universe behind it. For those of you who don’t know, this film takes place in the same universe as 2014’s Godzilla. I was interested to see how Kong would tie into that universe considering Godzilla takes place in modern day and Kong takes place in 1973. I won’t spoil anything, but they do tie these films together very well. Also, if you see this film, make sure you stick around until the end because there is an end-credits scene. After Godzilla: King of Monsters in 2019, we’ll be getting a Kong vs Godzilla film in 2020. Having seen Kong: Skull Island increases my excitement to see that.
   Overall, Kong: Skull Island was pretty entertaining. All of the action scenes were a lot of fun to watch, and there are moments in those scenes that I’m surprised they got away with in a PG-13 movie. The film did a good job expanding its universe and tying it into that of 2014’s Godzilla. The film had a great cast, unfortunately, they didn’t have enough to do. Their characters were overly cliché and were nothing we hadn’t seen before. However, when you go to see a movie called Kong: Skull Island, you’re not there to see interesting characters, you’re there to see King Kong, and on that front, this film delivers in full.

7/10

​   So what did you think of Kong: Skull Island? Are you looking forward to seeing Kong vs Godzilla? Let me know by commenting on this post! Also, if you enjoyed this review, share it on Facebook and Twitter. It really helps! Don’t forget, I post every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, so check back then for more movie reviews and miscellaneous movie thoughts!
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