Review of KONG: SKULL ISLAND (2017)
Article by RABID TRIBBLE
I must say I had relatively low expectations before recently seeing KONG: SKULL ISLAND. I was expecting good special effects, but not much more. A story about a giant monkey wreaking havoc. We've seen such giant creature stories a thousand times before. So knowing I had to watch something for this month's Blue Report movie review, I made myself a bag of microwave popcorn and settled down for what I expected would at least be a passable "popcorn movie". I was pleasantly surprised when I soon realized that this movie is actually a cut above.
The basic plot is nothing original. It's the standard storyline of a group of people stranded on a mysterious island being stalked by giant creatures. This is the storyline of every previous King Kong movie ever made (except this time the giant ape doesn't get transported to New York), and of the Jurassic Park movies, among countless other films.
However, KONG: SKULL ISLAND differs from most other films in this genre by not taking itself too seriously. There is a fair amount of humor, and the movie has no pretense of greatness. It's fully aware of what it is: a sci-fi action spectacle. And it really does succeed at entertaining its audience, provided you are in the mood to watch a movie about a giant ape in the first place. Various other giant creatures are also present on Skull Island, and Kong is a sort of anti-hero, worshipped by the natives of the island, who protects them from the other monsters. What I thought was a nice original touch is that, unlike in previous King Kong movies, the other creatures aren't dinosaurs but totally original concepts---including a monster that looks like it's made of wood (camouflaged to blend in with its environment), a giant ox-like animal, and giant lizard-like creatures that have never existed anywhere on this Earth.
The characters in the movie, which include well-known actors John Goodman and Tom Hiddleston (Loki in the Marvel films), are interesting, and the action moves along at a brisk pace.
I found myself quite enjoying this sci-fi "creature feature". And this is coming from someone who usually avoids these mindless CGI spectacles (*cough cough* Transformers *cough*). By not taking itself too seriously and keeping the adventure and action brisk and fun, KONG: SKULL ISLAND manages to put some freshness into a tired genre and be an entertaining diversion. If I were to include a ranking system (which I've never done yet), I would give it probably three stars out of four.
