Kong: Skull Island is the MonsterVerse's most purely entertaining entry and its most visually inventive, a picture that abandons the restrained awe of Godzilla 2014 in favour of a vibrant, pulpy adventure aesthetic drawn from the Vietnam War films of the 1970s. Jordan Vogt-Roberts's 2017 film is not a work of great thematic depth, but it is a work of visual imagination and kinetic energy, and its decision to set the MonsterVerse's Kong origin story against the backdrop of the Vietnam War's end gives it a period specificity and a cultural texture that the franchise's other entries have not matched.
At a Glance
Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Runtime: 118 minutes
Starring: Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, John C. Reilly, John Goodman
Release: 2017
Critics Rating: ★★★½ (3.5/5 stars, a vibrant and visually inventive adventure)
Audience Rating: ★★★★ (4/5 stars, the MonsterVerse's most purely entertaining entry)
Review Breakdown
Plot
In 1973, a government official secures military escort for a scientific expedition to the uncharted Skull Island, where the team discovers a world of prehistoric creatures dominated by Kong, a colossal ape of extraordinary intelligence and territorial authority. The screenplay by Dan Gilroy, Max Borenstein, and Derek Connelly handles the ensemble's introduction with enough efficiency to give each character a function without developing any of them with great depth, and the most effective structural decision is the early establishment of Kong as a figure of majesty rather than a straightforward threat. The conflict between Jackson's Colonel Packard, who wants to destroy Kong in revenge for the soldiers he killed, and the scientists who recognise Kong's ecological function gives the picture its central tension.
Characters
The human ensemble is the MonsterVerse's most enjoyable collection of supporting characters, even if none of them are developed with great depth. John C. Reilly's Hank Marlow is the most compelling human element, a World War Two pilot who has been stranded on Skull Island for twenty-eight years and whose combination of warmth, eccentricity, and knowledge of the island's dangers gives him a function that the more conventionally drawn protagonists cannot match. Samuel L. Jackson's Packard is the MonsterVerse's most dramatically interesting human antagonist, a military commander whose obsession with destroying Kong is presented as a comprehensible response to loss rather than simple villainy. Tom Hiddleston's James Conrad and Brie Larson's Mason Weaver are the most underserved characters, protagonists of limited interiority whose primary functions are to look impressive in the action sequences and to articulate the picture's sympathetic attitude toward Kong. Reilly is the most important casting achievement, a performer of comic range and warmth whose Marlow gives the picture its most consistently entertaining element. Jackson brings his characteristic intensity to Packard, giving the character a menace and a conviction that make him the MonsterVerse's most credible human antagonist. Goodman's Bill Randa is the most effectively drawn establishment figure, a Monarch operative of conviction whose belief in the existence of monsters gives the MonsterVerse's mythology a human foundation that the franchise's subsequent entries build on.
Tone
Vogt-Roberts pitches the picture at a register of 1970s pulp adventure, drawing on the visual language of Apocalypse Now, the creature features of the era, and the comic book aesthetics of the period to give it a distinctive visual identity that the MonsterVerse's other entries have not attempted. The Vietnam War setting gives the action sequences a period texture and a cultural resonance that the franchise's more generically contemporary settings do not provide, and the use of period music, from Creedence Clearwater Revival to David Bowie, gives it a sonic identity as distinctive as its visual one. The tone is consistently lighter and more playful than Godzilla 2014's, a choice that suits the material's pulpy register without undermining the monster sequences' spectacle.
Meaning / Themes
The central argument, that Kong is not a monster but a guardian, an apex predator whose presence maintains the ecological balance of Skull Island against the Skullcrawlers that would otherwise devastate it, is a direct extension of Godzilla 2014's ecological themes and is handled with enough specificity to give it a thematic dimension. Packard's refusal to accept this argument, his insistence on treating Kong as an enemy to be destroyed rather than a force to be understood, gives the central conflict a moral clarity that the MonsterVerse's more action-focused entries do not always achieve.
Direction
Vogt-Roberts's direction is the MonsterVerse's most visually distinctive, drawing on a range of cinematic influences to give the picture a visual identity that is simultaneously referential and inventive. His staging of the monster sequences, particularly Kong's first full appearance against the helicopters at sunset, demonstrates a command of scale and visual composition that gives the franchise's central figure his most cinematically impressive moment. Henry Jackman's score blends period rock influences with orchestral monster-movie grandeur in ways that suit the tonal register without achieving the compositional distinctiveness of Desplat's work on Godzilla 2014.
Cultural Reception
Kong: Skull Island received strong reviews on its release and was a major commercial success, grossing over $566 million worldwide. Critics praised Vogt-Roberts's visual inventiveness, Reilly's performance, and the period aesthetic, and it is now regarded as the MonsterVerse's most visually distinctive entry and the one that most successfully combines the kaiju genre with a specific cinematic tradition. Its post-credits scene, establishing the broader MonsterVerse mythology, generated considerable audience excitement for the franchise's subsequent entries.
Who Should Watch
Anyone who found Godzilla 2014's restraint frustrating and wants to see the MonsterVerse deliver its spectacle with more immediacy and visual invention, and anyone interested in how the kaiju genre can be combined with the Vietnam War film's aesthetic and cultural concerns. Kong: Skull Island is the MonsterVerse's most purely entertaining entry and its most rewatchable.
Final Verdict: The MonsterVerse's most purely entertaining entry and its most visually inventive, a picture that combines the kaiju genre with the Vietnam War film's aesthetic to give Kong his most dynamic and cinematically impressive screen outing. Reilly's Marlow is the franchise's most enjoyable human character, Vogt-Roberts's direction is the MonsterVerse's most visually distinctive, and the period setting gives it a cultural texture and a sonic identity that the franchise's other entries have not matched.
0 comments