Kong: Skull Island (2017) Review

With Godzilla vs Kong coming to the UK next week, I thought it was about time to re-watch the previous film involving one of the characters Kong: Skull Island and here is my review for it. The premise of the film sees a group of people from different backgrounds travel to an unmapped island in order to see what is there when they come up against the King of the island - Kong. 

Main Character

For these monster films, I always think the most important character is that of the monster and Kong is done fantastically well in this film. Kong is huge in this film and it is at its best when it shows him just wrecking shop and it is showcased incredibly well. There is some humanity to Kong and I think the film does a really good job in showing that and making him a more likeable creature. But then we get the human lead played by Tom Hiddleston and this is an actor I really like but he kind of sleepwalks through this film and offers very little. His character is paper thin and it just feels like he doesn't fit the role he is given and I think similar to Aaron Taylor Johnson in Godzilla these lead human casts struggle against there larger counterpart. 

Supporting Characters 

Samuel L Jackson plays an Army leader in the film and he is having some fun and living up in his role. He is basically the main one going up against Kong and it is very cool seeing what feels like these two forces of nature going head to head and really Jackson is the only person I imagine playing this role. John C Reilly has a role here and I think when I watched the film before I didn't like him but now I thought he was a really entertaining part of the film and adds heart to the feeling of the film. Towards the last act he literally became the only person I cared about and wanted to see get off of the island and credit has to go to him for that. But the rest of the cast did very little for me, Brie Larson is similar to Hiddleston. She is an actor I like but her character offers very little and the two of them have very little chemistry together and again I think it is mostly the script which makes them feel like weak characters. John Goodman starts off okay, but the film basically forgets about him and he becomes more weird as a character and it feels like a missed opportunity to use his great acting talent. Also Toby Kebbell is a good actor who is totally wasted in this film and he literally could have been played by anybody and that is a clear waste.

Story 

The story has some good elements to it, the background and characterisation of Kong is really well handled and I did like the fact that the film managed to create this feeling of anyone could be taken out at any point which few films can do. But this film fails in making you care about the majority of the human characters and with this cast that is almost a crime and the film does suffer from that in a large way. 

Script

This is the weakest element of the film and for me really hinders the actors portrayal of the characters. None of them are given anything interesting about them and the script does nothing to make you care and even though there is a giant ape fighting creatures you still need human characters to care about when they are the main elements of the film. 

Style 

Now onto the best part of the film, this film looks fantastic and has some awesome action sequences. The film does the right thing in not hiding Kong and has plenty of scenes with him throwing down with his fantastic look. The film is paced well and I was never bored which makes this part of the film at least a success. 

Overall

Overall, Kong: Skull Island is an average film. Everything to do with Kong is great it is just the human element of the film that holds it back and for me unless you are a big Kong fan this is worth a miss this time. 

Rating - 5/10