Movie review - Kong: Skull Island

I don't know who this movie was made for, but I can tell you who seems to have made it.

 

Cliffs: Terrible Vietnam war trope meets outdated "undiscovered monsters" schlock in the vein of the first Jurrasic Park with too many made up monsters and a man vs nature subplot. Nobody seems to be the star either. Then add in a stupid castaway on the island that seems to think bringing up the Cubs winning a World Series is going to be funny. And you start the film with John Goodman saying something to the effect that "this is the worst America will ever get".

 

The reason Kong worked ever was that audiences were from a technology and exploration dark age, pre Hillary climbing Everest era. It seemed plausible to them, but not to us. Even making a period piece when written by someone that thinks all you need for an 80s party is a headband and short shorts, well you are gonna have a terrible product.

 

 

In Detail:

Do you remember the movie "Rushmore"? the Vietnam play at the end? Well, that's what you get here. Imagine a millennial trying to make a Vietnam war movie, but they have only seen the poster for, and the famous Ride of the Valkyries scene from, Apocalypse Now. Cast in the role of Vietnam Air Cav teams from who could not make the cut for frat bros in Old School, much less capable of flying a chopper in a warzone. They rip that great scene off while blasting Sabbath and show you choppers against a giant orange sun a few times too many.

 

The music was clearly done by a Spotify algorithm.

 

The cast, well, who really stars in this? Huddleston as the explorer without screen time and always perfect hair, Sam Jackson as the over the top caricature or American military aggression, the girl photographer that has no quality of Fay Wray (I cant even remember her name) or the cgi garbage? I guess we'll never know..

I thought it was entertaining and visually appealing but substance was not the strong suit.

King Kong could work better IMO if they got someone decent to do it, but all the remakes have been terrible IMO. The 1970s remake, the Peter Jackson remake, etc...as some neat trivia though, the 1933 King Kong was the first live-action film ever where you could hear people's voices.