As shared film universes are becoming more and more popular, audiences are expecting great movies to fulfill their crossover dreams. Marvel does it exceptionally well, DC does it quite mediocre, and this new Monster-verse is off to an amazing start with Kong: Skull Island. This film is a great second addition to this monster franchise, and while it connects to 2014's Godzilla, it stands on its own as having everything a great film needs: strong performances, an engaging plot, and enough special effects and fighting to satisfy the bloodthirsty American audiences.
This movie is exactly what a King Kong movie needed to get a more reliable fan base. The characters were lovable, King Kong was lovable, the music was lovable, everything was so lovable. The greatest parts of this film involved the humanity of everything. The characters, especially Brie Larson's and Tom Hiddleston's, were very humane and caring characters. They were characterized so well in contrast to the true antagonist of the film: Samuel L. Jackson. Besides the fact that all of the actors and actresses worked well together due to being a part of the large Marvel franchise, their energy and chemistry all flowed very well. Sam Jackson's character Packard was the antagonist of the film, of course, and Jackson did not even use the word "fuck" even once, surprisingly. The plot of the film was also a big draw-in for me, because I could barely sit through the 3-hour King Kong from 2005. This film had a great and simple plot, which worked very well for introducing this character into the universe. The best scene in this film, I believe, was when Hiddleston's character Conrad and Larson's character Weaver shared the scene with Kong on the cliff. Seeing the pure pain and despair in his eyes from only wanting to have his home be left alone was such an emotional touch to the film that was definitely needed. The other amazing element was the use of the other monsters (the Skull-Crawlers) and the fight sequences. This film was balanced very well with human plot and monster plot, and it was not a 2-hour CGI fight-fest like many believe. The choreography was fantastic and, for once, it got me rooting for the giant, hairy, but gentle ape.
There was not much about this film that I did not enjoy, as it has all of the elements of a successful blockbuster. The only thing that bothered me was that certain parts of the plot were extremely obvious and basic. For example, the moment that Toby Kebbell's character Chapman was introduced and was writing a letter to his son back home, it was painfully obvious that he would not escape Skull Island alive. And sure enough, his character was killed off in such a simple way, having a baby Skull-Crawler leap from nowhere and devour him. The writing for this film was done very simply, and while it stays true to many tropes about war films, it's not entirely new. Effective, but not 100% original.
Kong: Skull Island is a great film that left me very satisfied, especially with the state of many lackluster blockbusters. I was not expecting to enjoy it as much as I did, and that was a pleasant surprise. While the story is basic and unoriginal, the performances and editing really bring this film together in a Marvel-ous (heh) way.
My Rating: ★★★★
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