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KONG: SKULL ISLAND (2017) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

KONG: SKULL ISLAND (2017) movie

Genre | Fantasy

Classification | M

Running time | 120 minutes

Released | 9 March 2017

cast

Tom Hiddleston ... James Conrad
Samuel L. Jackson ... Preston Packard
Brie Larson ... Mason Weaver
John C. Reilly ... Hank Marlow
John Goodman ... Bill Randa

director

Jordan Vogt-Roberts

writer

Dan Gilroy ... (screenplay by) and
Max Borenstein ... (screenplay by) and
Derek Connolly ... (screenplay by)

John Gatins ... (story by)

Merian C. Cooper ... (based on the character created by) (uncredited)
Edgar Wallace ... (based on the character created by) (uncredited)

cinematographer

Larry Fong

music

Henry Jackman

film editor

Richard Pearson

box office result

Worldwide $566,652,812

Australia $10,000,000

North America $168,052,812

the best dialogue

James Conrad: An uncharted island? Let me list all they ways you gonna die. Rain, heat, mud, disease carrying flies and mosquitoes. Sure you could load up on the Atabrine for the malaria... but what about the other bacteria? And we haven't even started on the things that want to eat you alive.

Jack Chapman: [after seeing Kong from a helicopter] Is that a monkey?

Hank Marlow: [to the soldiers] This is a good group of boys. We're all gonna die together out here. You're a good group of boys to die with, I'll tell you that much.
[laughing]
Hank Marlow: You shouldn't have come here.

things to spend money on ...

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KONG: SKULL ISLAND (2017) MOVIE IMAGES

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KONG: SKULL ISLAND (2017) STORY SYNOPSIS

Scientists, soldiers and adventurers unite to explore a mythical, uncharted island in the Pacific Ocean. Cut off from everything they know, they venture into the domain of the mighty Kong, igniting the ultimate battle between man and nature. As their mission of discovery soon becomes one of survival, they must fight to escape from a primal world where humanity does not belong.

KONG: SKULL ISLAND (2017) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty | Review date 4 March 2017
Pop Movee Rating ⭐⭐⭐½

Kong: Skull Island is the first popcorn crowd-pleaser of 2017 and, thankfully, this latest adaptation of the King Kong story ticks all the boxes to be a commercial success and warrant enough favourable commentary to see Warner Bros continue the development of their ‘Big Monster’ movie universe. It would be unfair for viewers to go into Kong: Skull Island with anything other than the expectation that they will be “entertained”. Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts is certainly not targeting the Awards season with Skull Island, but he’s delivered a movie with enough care and attention-to-detail that well and truly places it in the above-average category.

King Kong: Skull Island starts with a prologue set toward the end of the Pacific conflict of the Second World War. An American fighter pilot and his Japanese counterpart end up on the same beach after having to eject from their respective planes. The two men continue hostilities on the ground and, after exhausting his pistol’s six shots, the American is chased into the dense jungle by his Samurai Sword brandishing foe. In typical cliche fashion, the American pilot ends up being forced to defend himself on the precipice of a huge cliff, narrowly avoiding being sliced and diced by the Japanese pilot’s sword. The two pilot’s face-off is brought to a sudden end by the appearance of a huge creature behind him: the mighty Kong! Off their astounded looks, the story cuts to Washington DC. The year is 1973. Bill Randa (John Goodman) and Houston Brooks (Corey Hawkins) have travelled to the United States capital to solicit the help of a Senator Willis (a brief cameo by veteran character actor Richard Jenkins) and mount a survey mission to a previously unknown island in the “South Pacific”. The Senator reluctantly agrees, telling Randa that this is the last time he’ll support him and his crazy ideas!

Despite having to assemble a relatively large ensemble, Vogt-Roberts do a good job of getting his players into position quickly and getting the action underway. Tom Hiddleston plays former SAS Officer James Conrad; Brie Larson as the left-of-centre photojournalist Mason Weaver; Tian Jing as San, one of Randa’s science team; Samuel L. Jackson as Apocalypse Now throwback Colonel Preston Packard along with his Air Cavalry team of Toby Kebbell as Jack, Jason Mitchell as Mills and Thomas Mann as Slivko. Confronted by a menacing storm surrounding the mysterious island upon their arrival, the expedition is unable to see what might confront them upon getting to the island. Unlike the characters, the audience has a pretty good idea and the story wastes no time getting Kong into the action, as the mighty beast takes offence at having his home disrupted by a series of seismic charges that announce the island’s newest inhabitants. Kong’s attack on Packard’s Air Cavalry copters, and the ensuing chaos, sees the film’s characters split into three different groups, allowing the filmmakers to showcase different parts of the island and the dangers it presents.

Performances are solid all round, but Jackson’s Packard comes off as very one note, as his character parallels Ahab and his chase for the white whale. Hiddleston’s Conrad keeps cool under pressure and Brie Larson makes everything look easy as her natural look and physical performance see her easily match it with the men and forge a “connected-to-nature” relationship with Kong that sees the huge creature acknowledge her own desire to help all the creatures of Skull Island that are in danger. The film’s strongest performance comes from John C. Reilly as Hank Marlow, the mature-aged version of the American WWII fighter pilot from the beginning of the movie. He’s a bit kooky, but never insane. He’s comes to respect the island, its inhabitants and its god: Kong. At the end of the day, Kong: Skull Island IS all about Kong, and, on that point, the film scores extremely well. The film’s final act is devoted largely to the monster-mash between Kong and the “Skullcrawlers”, huge lizard-like creature determined to destroy everything in its path. The introduction of these creatures serves an important function not just to Kong: Skull Island, but to the extended MonsterVerse Warner Bros is creating with Kong, Godzilla and other creature features the studio is currently working on. This new Kong film is an entertaining entry in the big ape’s mythology, but series monster aficionados need to stay beyond the film’s credits to see a glimpse of the bigger picture!