Review: Kong: Skull Island (2017)

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Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts succeeds in creating a compelling reboot of the King Kong franchise and opening up the Godzilla movie universe with a unique parable on the nature of man vs. beast set in the post-war Vietnam era.

For most film fans, King Kong remains an early memory of their first exposure to big screen movie monsters. Ray Harryhausen’s pioneering stop motion monster has influenced countless genre films, from RoboCop to Clash of the Titans. Kong even fought Godzilla in one of Toho’s most beloved early films, a precursor to today’s shared movie universes. 2014’s Godzilla reboot from Legendary Pictures teased a greater shared movie monsterverse and now Kong: Skull Island has arrived to open up that potential mythos by introducing Kong to a new generation.

Kong: Skull Island is a period piece. Set in Saigon at the end of the U.S.’s involvement in the Vietnam War, John Goodman plays Bill Randa, an agent of the U.S. government monster agency Monarch introduced in the 2014 Godzilla film. Randa has struggled to find funding to keep Monarch going, but using satellite imagery, he convinced a U.S. Senator (played by Cabin in the Woods‘ Richard Jenkins) to let Monarch piggyback on a LandSat mapping mission to uncover a mysterious island surrounded by storms where Randa is convinced monsters reside. Randa also hires an ex-British Special Air Service captain named Conrad (Tom Hiddleston) to guide them once they arrive. Their expedition is guided by Lieutenant Colonel Preston Packard (Samuel L. Jackson), a jaded career military man looking for purpose in his life without war, and his men, as well as a pacifist photographer named Mason Weaver (Brie Larson). Packard gets the crew through the hurricane conditions weather system surrounding the island, but his men are subsequently annhilated by Kong, the erstwhile “god” of the island. As the survivors are split up, Packard sees Kong as his “white whale” ala Moby Dick that he must destroy to keep man from knowing monsters like the giant ape even exist. Meanwhile, Conrad and Mason encounter Hank Marlow (John C. Reilly), a U.S. military pilot who has been trapped on the island since World War 2 and lets them know what Kong’s true role on the island really is.

For fans of classic 70’s and 80’s military films, Kong: Skull Island is a welcome treat. It borrows highly from the film language of classic films like Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket, and Platoon in telling a story about obsession, the madness caused by wartime, and the strength of camaraderie. It also heavily borrows from the source material behind Apocalypse Now, Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, down to the naming of Hiddleston’s character and the madness that befalls Samuel L. Jackson’s Packard character as “extermination by any means necessary” becomes his mantra in dealing with Kong. Larson and Hiddleston serve as solid protagonists anchoring the viewer’s interest, but it is ultimately Reilly’s Marlow who becomes the heart of the film. Our emotional investment as viewers is with his character and it is to Reilly’s credit we are invested in his fate and that he doesn’t become a one-note comic relief character.

Moreover, King Kong is front and center in this film. The special effects and motion capture (done by actor Toby Kebbell) make Kong seem alive and we empathize with him and he is identifiable which is ultimately what makes the movie work. The otherwordly atmosphere of Skull Island is engrossing and it never seems artificial.

Ultimately, Kong: Skull Island is a solid entry in the greater Godzilla MonsterVerse and is a much better film with more rewatchability than the 2014 film. The film is definitely a great reintroduction for Kong and a great gift for fans of the character.