“This is one of those movies that I saw mostly out of a perceived obligation. I respect King Kong as a classic Hollywood character, but his repeated failed reboots feel a little like “”stop trying to make fetch happen””. I also don’t generally care for films that rely too much on CGI monsters for their action, especially in the third act (Transformers, Pacific Rim, Godzilla). It feels like lazy story telling when any plot advancement is suddenly abandoned in favor of cool things beating up other cool things. Still I went because I always see these big event movies (even if a March release indicates a smaller event), but moreso because of that cast. Brie Larson, Samuel L Jackson, Tom Hiddleston, John C Reilly? If you’ve got a great assembly like that, they’ve got to be on to something, yeah?
And oh, they were! First off, yes the cast was the best part of it (MVP shout out to Reilly). I felt like there was some actual substance to their characters, which I’m not sure if it was good acting or good writing, but it was engaging, which is what matters. The lazy action I was concerned about? Not much of a problem. The sequences were developed with a lot of human interaction, and the aforementioned character development kept some weight and high stakes in the middle of the flash. And it did look pretty cool, a lot of really creative shots.
I think I was just mostly impressed at how absorbed I was in it. All the elements came together just like a great blockbuster should. I even found myself feeling a twinge of nostalgia at some classic Kong imagery, despite the fact that I wasn’t ever much of a Kong fan. The success with which this was executed gives me hope for the upcoming summer movie season. I just hope the other studios were as mindful as the team behind this.
Kong: Skull Island – \m/ \m/ \m/ \n”