LOUISA: 
LOUISA SAYS:
Even if you aren’t a fanboy of the monster movie genre, you’ll have a good time at “Kong: Skull Island,” an eye popping popcorn movie that offers up some good old fashioned cinematic escapism. The film has a serious-yet-satirical attitude that gives it an elevated B-movie vibe, and it’s a ton of fun.
Setting the film in the 1970s was a brilliant move and it serves the story well. Conspiracy theorist Bill (John Goodman) convinces the government to give him a military escort to chart a mysterious island. Accompanying him are tough and combative career military man Lt. Colonel Packard (Samuel L. Jackson) and his helicopter squadron, British tracker James (Tom Hiddleston), anti-war photojournalist Mason (Brie Larson) and several other random company suits and scientists. After arriving on the island the group encounters wildly strange hermit Hank (the scene stealing John C. Reilly), a presumed dead WWII military pilot who crash landed and has been stuck on the island since the 1940s. King Kong is a hero ape in this version, keeping the local tribespeople safe from the Skull Crawlers (which are admittedly lame and fake looking dino lizard things).
The plot is thin, the dialogue is at times clunky, and there’s little character development. But that’s not really why audiences flock to movies like this, is it? We’re here to see a giant monkey wreak havoc, and the film delivers. (In fact, Kong shows up within the film’s first few minutes, providing an instant satisfaction by giving us an early and grandiose glimpse of the beast).
This is one great looking movie that’s extraordinarily visually focused (if not so much story-wise). It’s an expensive spectacle with a huge budget (rumored to be in the $190 million range), and you sure as heck can see where the money was spent onscreen. It’s not in the talented, credible actors that helm the cast: it’s in the absolutely flawless — and I mean FLAWLESS — visual effects. The CGI eye candy is breathtaking and the classic movie monster is brought to life on an epic scale by the animation geniuses at Industrial Light & Magic (with visual effects supervisor Stephen Rosenbaum working at the top of his game here). Kong looks and feels like an actual ape and is given a real humanity through the topnotch animation.
Jordan Vogt-Roberts, who directed the intimate film “Kings of Summer” (which clocked in at #4 on my list of the Top 10 Best Movies of 2013), makes an enormous and impressive creative leap from spearheading a low budget indie to an extravagant blockbuster with enviable ease. Vogt-Roberts has a skilled, artistic eye for visual beauty and stages some epic set pieces here. You’ll get big monsters and even bigger explosions with a pulsating retro rock soundtrack throughout.
All of this dazzling spectacle serves as a flashy distraction from the thin story and flat acting, but this is a wildly entertaining movie that breathes life into the Kong franchise.
Screen Zealots 
I can’t go see it. I had to leave during Godzilla because I was so upset that they were hurting her and she was trying to protect her eggs. Really, if they went after Kong, I’d have to leave again. I just can’t take the meanness of it all. It sounds silly but it’s too awful. If Godzilla and Kong killed all the humans I would be okay with that but the poor things being shot at and everything. Blah.
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Kong kills his fair share of humans in this one.
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Good to know.
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I think all these new King Kong movies absolutely SUCK.
“Kong: Skull Island” had all the makings of a blockbuster—big names, bigger CGI, and a colossal ape. Yet, what I got was a two-hour expedition into cinematic mediocrity that left me questioning how such a promising concept could fall so flat.
Let’s start with the characters—or should I say cardboard cutouts? Despite having A-listers like Tom Hiddleston and Brie Larson on board, the film gives them as much depth as a kiddie pool. Hiddleston’s stoic hero and Larson’s intrepid photographer feel like they’re ticking off their action-hero cliché checklist rather than embodying real people with real stakes. Even Samuel L. Jackson’s tough-guy military commander couldn’t muster up enough charisma to save the day.
And don’t get me started on the storyline. It’s like they took every predictable action trope, threw it into a blender, and hit “puree.” The expedition to Skull Island, which should have been an epic journey of discovery and danger, felt more like a video game tutorial with each new oversized CGI creature serving as a tedious level boss. The pacing? About as consistent as a toddler on a sugar high—jumping from one mindless action scene to the next without a moment to catch your breath or care about what’s happening.
Then there’s Kong himself, the 100-foot gorilla in the room. Sure, the CGI is impressive enough to make you believe a giant ape could exist, but where’s the heart? The Kong we get here is more like a giant punching bag for helicopters than the complex, tragic figure we’ve seen in past adaptations. He’s a spectacle, not a character—a missed opportunity to evoke genuine awe and sympathy. He is also cheesy looking with a goofy ahh homeless man beard and big round stomach.
And what about those half-baked attempts at social commentary? Set in the 1970s against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, “Kong: Skull Island” tries to toss in themes of war and environmentalism like they’re going out of style. But these themes are as subtle as a sledgehammer, clumsily shoehorned into the plot without any real exploration or impact. It’s like the filmmakers were trying to be profound while simultaneously hitting us over the head with their message.
In conclusion, “Kong: Skull Island” is a textbook example of style over substance, where flashy visuals and big names can’t mask a hollow core. It’s a film that mistakes CGI spectacle for genuine storytelling, leaving audiences with nothing more than a sense of wasted potential. If you’re looking for depth, character development, or a narrative that actually makes you care, you won’t find it here. “Kong: Skull Island” is a forgettable entry in the King Kong franchise that swings and misses harder than a blindfolded gorilla. All of a sudden “Oh let’s change King Kong’s name to Kong 🤪” and don’t let me get STARTED ON HOW THEY SPOIL KONG in other movies featuring him, in GVK and GXK they give kong WAY too much plot and storyline, lore and all that other stuff monster fans eat up and leave Godzilla and/or other kaiju/monsters way less story.
So, unless you’re in the mood for mindless action and a giant CGI ape smashing things, save yourself the disappointment and skip this hollow spectacle. Because when it comes to Kong’s latest outing, the biggest thing it’ll leave you with is regret.
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So Warner Brothers is trying to get their own franchise? It probably won’t get the money back, from what I’ve heard. The question will be: does WB double-down and keep on with trying the franchise or just chalk it up as a loss?
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It’s hard to say, but “Kong: Skull Island” was a pretty good monster movie. I really liked it!
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