KONG: SKULL ISLAND (2017)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
Kong is back, and he seems to be taller than ever before. This is not the anatomically correct silverback gorilla from Peter Jackson's majestic, poetic 2005 version - this Kong looms large over the forbidden Skull Island. What is different from the usual Kong movie (excepting the 1976 version) is that this one, though set in the 70's, has Army soldiers (Sky Devils) who have just left the unwinnable war of Vietnam and are headed to Skull Island to aid scientists who believe something truly astounding is afoot at Skull Island. John Goodman is the leader of an organization known as Monarch and, with Senate financial approval, is finally able to bring his team to this island. Tom Hiddleston is Conrad, a British SAS officer and animal tracker who is up for anything as long as he is paid. Brie Larson is Mason, a photojournalist who has seen a lot in other countries but who can be prepared for what she will see here. Samuel L. Jackson, at his fiercest with those iconic angry eyes, is Lt. Col. Packard who is up for any mission that will redeem the disastrous war, at least in his eyes. The helicopters arrive as they dump missile charges to scope out the area. Um, big mistake since Kong arrives out of nowhere and practically kills all the Sky Devils. Packard is red-hot mad and wants revenge.
One of the few novelties in this film, perhaps tying in to producer Merian C. Cooper and his 1933 classic Kong film, is John C. Reilly as a former Army pilot from WWII who has been stranded in the island for nearly 30 years. He has become friendly with the natives and hopes that this newly arrived crew of misfits will help him leave the island and reunite with his wife and his son. Reilly is one of those actors who can muster a twinkle of delight in your eye - he makes you care because he is so damn benevolent.
As with any monster movie of extreme epic proportions, "Kong: Skull Island" does have flaws though they never intrude upon the marvelous action scenes. Reilly and Jackson have the most memorable characters on display, exuding plenty of charisma and sympathy for their plight. The rest of the cast is not nearly as enticing, though Hiddleston is always watchable as a tracker and John Goodman, well, it is hard to ever take your eyes off of him. Brie Larson is given nothing special to do except take pictures, including having the tribes flash the peace sign while posing for her lens. Ooooohhhh, how 70's. She has a couple of tender moments with Kong that made me wish they expanded her character the way Peter Jackson did with Naomi Watts in his Kong version. The Army soldiers are just generic types that you might see in the background of any war movie. Apparently, the director Jordan Vogt-Roberts was inspired by "Apocalypse Now" (among other 70's films) with the askew view of the Island I suppose standing in for Vietnam, but that is hardly a comfortable enough association.
Still, in terms of epic scope and the landscape of this Skull Island and its fearsome prehistoric creatures, "Kong: Skull Island" is more like "Valley of the Gwangi" (for my generation) and its Kong predecessors than anything in "Jurassic World." It is a heady monster bash and it has a prime sense of adventure and style - there is joy all along the margins of this film that makes it a marked improvement over that boring "Godzilla." The proof is in the pudding - Kong is still king in my book.
