KONG: SKULL ISLAND
Genre: Action| Adventure| Fantasy
Directed by: Jordon Vogt-Roberts
Starring: Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson
Written by: Dan Gilroy, Max Borenstein

Synopsis:

A team of explorers and soldiers travel to an uncharted island in the Pacific, unaware that they are crossing into the domain of monsters, including the mythic Kong.

Kong: Skull Island previews like a nice summer blockbuster flick, as it impresses with it’s cast of A-list acting talent and visuals. Kong is truly the king in this movie, as he is sure to be the largest King Kong you have ever seen on screen (unless you count the horrible one from like 100 years ago). Kong: Skull Island is a true theater movie, as it dominates in sound, visuals, and an intriguing character set, that is the most impressive of any King Kong movie made so far.

THE GOOD:

Like I mentioned above, Kong: Skull Island is a solid remake and love letter to the originals, as it makes just about everything bigger and badder than before. What I mean by this, is not only is King Kong larger than life and a good match in size to Godzilla (who he is supposed to be fighting in future movies), but he is as fierce and monstrous as ever before. with his near undetectable CGI. The digital effects of this film could not be cheap, as the creatures and monsters on Skull Island are sure to scare and creep the hell out of many of you out.

While King Kong is amazing, he is not the only good part of this movie, as the giant ape is surrounded by his “cast-mates” in Tom Hiddleston and Brie Larson. Not only did Tom Hiddleston show that he is a great actor for “action-heavy” bad-ass roles like he is in this movie, but he is going to make all of the Uncharted fans out there , really want him to be considered as the first live-action Nathan Drake.

Brie Larson is also great to see in the movie, as she shines in acting and character development like the rest of the cast. Kong: Skull Island is surprisingly good at connecting you with the characters, as pretty much each and every character is well developed for how many A-list faces there are to deal with. Samuel L. Jackson does what he does best, as he continues to be a hard-ass, who fancies the word motherf*cker, while more rising talent like NWA’s Corey Hawkins and Jason Mitchel, show their acting range.

The acting and characterization was truly impressive for a King Kong movie, as I wouldn’t mind seeing a follow up film with some of these characters (even though there probably won’t be one, since this is a prequel set in the 70’s).

Unlike it’s previous takes, Kong: Skull Island offers some pretty solid comic-relief, that has it’s ups and downs (as I will discuss more on that later).

For highlighting purposes, make sure to see Kong: Skull Island in theaters, as it is everything a theater movie is meant for (amazing larger than life visuals, and loud monumental action). Luckily I was blessed with seeing this film in RPX (basically IMAX with better seats and speakers) as it made my experience even greater.

THE BAD: 

There is not much bad to say about Kong: Skull Island, so I will certainly have to nit-pick here in order to find my complaints. To start, one could reasonably argue that this reboot suffers from a lack of originality. While I did say that Kong: Skull Island excels in making everything bigger and badder than before (badder in the good notion), it is another King Kong movie, that pretty much has all of the same concepts that the last one did.

In truth, there is not much new going on, as you will get a lot of what you would expect if you have seen any of the previous King Kong installments. . .

While this is a minor feat, it is one that the majority of critics have refused to ignore, as it seems like the main complaint on many of the Rotten Tomatoes radars (but who cares about Rotten Tomatoes).

Anyway, my only other complaint about Kong: Skull Island would go back to my comment before about it’s rise of comic-relief. While there were some highly hilarious moments, it did seem like Kong: Skull Island was almost a little too risk-averse, and horror lacking, as the last King Kong movie was definitely significantly scarier.

Don’t get me wrong, Kong: Skull Island definitely has it’s creepy and scary moments, but the general tone is much more light-hearted than the last King Kong installment which still has some of the creepiest moments I have ever seen in a PG-13 movie.

THE VERDICT:

Kong: Skull Island is a solid remake that should seriously warrant a theater viewing. With it’s awesome visuals, amazing fight scenes, and robust action, Kong: Skull Island is the perfect cinematic experience, that reminds you of why certain movies are meant for theaters.

The characterization is exceedingly impressive for a King Kong movie, while there are so many interesting characters to enjoy. Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson shine bright, as do their co-stars in John Goodman, and the Giant Ape himself.

If there is a movie you pay extra money to go see on the big screen, Kong: Skull Island might be the right choice, as you are going to have a truly exhilarating theatrical experience.

Let us know what you think of Kong: Skull Island in the comments below!

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