I don't know what we expected from Kong: Skull Island (2017). All giant ape movies are crap, except the original King Kong, right? I guess I can't say, we've never seen any. This one was great, though.
First, it shows you the monster right away. Two pilots crash on the island in WWII, one American, one Japanese. As they carry on fighting at the edge of a cliff, Kong rises up - and he's huuuge! The soldiers could fit into his nostrils. Great opening.
Fast forward to 1973. John Goodman and Corey Hawkins are begging for funding to explore a previously unknown skull-shaped island. They get the funding, and a military escort, a helicopter squadron being demobilized from Vietnam, lead by Samuel L. Jackson. He's just glad they don't have to go home and get to keep playing with the boom toys.
They also pick up Tom Hiddleston as a jungle guide (we love Mr. Loki, but this is not his best role - a bit too generic) and Brie Larson as an award-winning photojournalist and pacifist. then they head to the island.
Along with a lot of cool modern action, there is a lot of beautiful (CGI?) scenery with helicopters floating through the air like dragonflies, sometimes with huge explosions, and/or a classic rock soundtrack. Yes, this is King Kong meets Apocalypse Now. When I watched it, I thought John Goodman was playing his showman character from Matinee - but he didn't bring the ape back to Broadway. Instead, I now realize that he was "doing" John Milius, writer and muse for Apocalypse Now. A quick check on the Google reveals that he has been doing Milius at least since Walter Sobchek in the Big Lebowski. Also, Hiddleston's character is named Conrad (not Joseph, though).
I'm skipping all the spoilery stuff - I think it's enough to say that this is both exciting and gorgeous, as well as full of sly references to other movies (not just Apocalypse Now). There's also a great role for John C. Reilly, comic relief but also the movie's heart and soul. Some of his stuff is clearly ad-libbed, and you wonder how the rest of the cast kept straight faces. There's also a tremendous body count, including some gruesome and funny kills.
What more do you want?
Added: I seem to have forgotten the great monster battles in this movie: Megarilla vs. Tentaculon! Apeapotamus vs. Gatorsaurus! Good stuff.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment