“Kong: Skull Island” is a star-studded disappointment, featuring Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, John C. Reilly, John Goodman and Corey Hawkins.
STARS: 2/5
The film is the second entry into Legendary Pictures’ MonsterVerse, which began with 2014’s “Godzilla.” Apparently, Legendary decided it needed to build its own cinematic universe to compete with Marvel Studios’ success, as so many studios are trying to do today.
The film also follows the trend of filling its soundtrack with pop music. This trend started after “Guardians of the Galaxy” pulled it off and produced a best-selling album, but many films trying to copy that success, like “Suicide Squad,” have failed to leave the same impact.
“Kong: Skull Island” is no different. There are probably 20 different classic rock songs played in the first act of the film alone, and half of them fail to fit the tone of their scenes. The choice of music feels like a forced attempt to draw the audience into the reality of 1974 while simultaneously building the fantasy setting of Skull Island. The film does a poor job of meshing the two; the constant clash of reality and fantasy causes major tonal issues throughout the film.
A general rule of thumb for monster movies is to refrain from unveiling your monster for as long as possible. Classic monster movies like “Alien,” “Predator,” and “Tremors” only briefly show the creature until third act revelations. The golden example of this rule is “Jaws.”
In the Steven Spielberg masterpiece, the shark does not make a real appearance until the film’s second half. The audience knows the shark is real and killing people, but the characters do not . “Jaws” ratchets up the tension throughout its first half until finally revealing the shark to the characters and producing one of the greatest lines in all of cinema.
Instead of following this structure, “Kong: Skull Island” shows its monster in the film’s opening scene of the film. Then, after a few scenes of basic character introduction, Kong is shown again in a several-minute-long action sequence. There is no time to build up suspense for Kong’s big reveal or for any of the other horrors the island holds.
Another staple of the monster-movie genre is strong, memorable characters. Let’s use “Alien” as an example. The most memorable part of Ridley Scott’s classic isn’t the action. It’s Sigourney Weaver’s historic performance as Ripley and the sense of dread the crew faces throughout the entire film.
It is incredibly disappointing when a film has such an incredible cast but fails to use its actors effectively. The characters in this film are bland and two-dimensional. Of the entire ensemble, only two characters show any kind of arc or progression by the end of the film.
Preston Packard, played by Samuel L. Jackson, is probably the most interesting character in the film. Packard only seems to be happy on the battlefield, and as the film progresses, he creates a sort of vendetta in his head. This vendetta takes over his rationale, and the character is intriguing because of it.
However, it’s John C. Reilly who steals the show as Hank Marlow, a World War II veteran who has been stranded on Skull Island for nearly three decades. Marlow is the most entertaining character, and Reilly succeeds in injecting his unique brand of comedy into the film. Most of the jokes in the film fall flat, but Reilly’s goofy character is hugely entertaining. Despite a handful of out-of-character moments, Reilly adds yet another noteworthy performance to his already impressive career.
Each actor in the film has proven they are capable of giving stellar performances, but the writing in “Kong: Skull Island” is so poor it’s impossible to care about any of their characters.
Tom Hiddleston, for example, made a name for himself as an incredible villain in Marvel’s cinematic universe. His portrayal of Loki has captured the hearts of many Marvel fans, but the character he plays in “Kong: Skull Island” is just a generic action hero.
James Conrad, Hiddleston’s character, is established as the tracker guy who is good at traveling uncharted islands. By the end of the film, Conrad is still just the tracker who is good at traveling uncharted islands.
The same can be said for John Goodman’s Bill Randa, Brie Larson’s Mason Weaver and any of the soldiers on the island. Most of the characters in “Kong: Skull Island” seem like they are simply there to be thrown around by Kong. There is no reason to care for any of them, and the film is boring when Kong isn’t on the screen.
However, when Kong is on the screen, the film is very fun. The fight scenes between Kong and the soldiers — or whatever other creatures he encounters on the island — look incredible. The visual effects and design of Kong and the other creatures are fantastic. Watching Kong wreak havoc is a blast. The problem is everything else in the film.
There are a number of excellent shots worth noting. For example, in the opening action scene, Kong stands in silhouette of the setting sun as a fleet of helicopters approach. The image feels grand and captures the epic feel of the character. There are a handful of visually appealing, cinematic moments like that sprinkled throughout the film.
In the end, “Kong: Skull Island” was merely a disappointing film with a few enjoyable moments.