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Kong: Skull Island (2017), PG-13, ★★1/2

It's Kong in a new adventure.
Back in 1933, King Kong premiered in front of a crowd that has been introduced to the world of film for less than 10 years. However, sound was brought into play in the beginning of the 1930s so people were getting acquainted with "sound-quality pictures" as they used to call them back in the day. People were entranced by the big stature of fur and startled by its ginormous presence. It started a trend of monster pictures and also remakes with Jessica Lange, Jeff Bridges, Naomi Watts, Jack Black. Even though there were parts of the 1976 that were thrilling, it was corny. I really liked the 2005 version, however, the 3-hour length prevented me from loving it. When I compare this latest adventure with Kong to other Kong movies, what is lacking are memorable characters that are one-dimensional and are not given much depth or good dialogue and it gets boring. The sad truth is that the Kong scenes are thrilling that the human scenes are what drag it down to become a mixed adventure of sorts. 

In 1973, government official Bill Randa (John Goodman) and geologist Houston Brooks (Corey Hawkins) try to get some funding for their expedition to Skull Island. Before leaving, Randa requests for a military escort to the island. Randa and Brooks go to a bar and meet former British Special Air Service captain named James Conrad (Tom Hiddleston) to be their tracker. Conrad wants more money than what he is offered as he points out that there is a good chance that they will be killed by severe weather or by other predators. 

Anti-war photographer Mason Weaver (Brie Larson) gets a call to join the expedition and she arrives at the base to meet Colonel Preston Packard (Samuel L. Jackson) and his team - mainly, Packard's right hand man, Chapman (Toby Kebbell) and Slivko (Thomas Mann) amongst others. The team rides a boat to the ocean where they fly the choppers to the island. After the soldiers drop seismic charges into the ground that sets off explosions, Kong throws a tree to a helicopter causing it to go the ground and does more damage to the rest of the helicopters, causing the group to separate. 

Look out for some creatures. 
This movie was fun while I was watching it and experiencing like a 10-year-old kid rooting for Kong to do his thing, destroying helicopters, pounding his chest and fighting other monsters. However, after the experience was over about two hours later, I still remembered Kong but totally forgot the characters. The characters felt wooden and forgettable. And also adding to my disappointment is that there are so many recognizably talented actors that you cannot keep up and therefore you concentrate as to who will be eliminated during the movie. Plus, it did not help that the dialogue was on-the-nose and hammy and that the humor felt forced and natural that it distracted my experience with the movie and with Kong. Also, the story is solely an idea of rehashing the monster picture and not a narrative so to me, it seemed to be a bit anticlimactic. 

Tom Hiddleston is fine in his performance but again, he does not deliver this rugged persona like other actors such as Harrison Ford and Kurt Russell from other movies. He looked too clean alongside Brie Larson, who sort of disappointed me as she could have generated some tension or excitement. Samuel L. Jackson does not provide much gravitas nor does John Goodman. Toby Kebbell had a little depth and backstory to his character. However, the one hammy and surprisingly refreshing performance goes to John C. Reilly, as he looks like he is having a fun portraying a copycat of Dennis Hopper's character from Apocalypse Now. 

Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts does a good job displaying the action sequences, set locations to the tone of a B-level action movie because it looks like a throwback and I enjoyed that. The fighting sequences are exciting as Kong is fighting some monsters. It is the kind of movie you'd want to enjoy at the drive-in back in the 1980s because you'd be munching on some popcorn and being thrilled simultaneously. If they had any memorable characters like in other monster movies such as Jurassic Park, Jaws or even 2005's King Kong, more solid dialogue and a narrative, I would have had the pleasure to say that I had more than a good time. I had a good time watching the movie as I was rooting for Kong but somehow I felt disappointed a few hours later. Oh, well. 

**1/2


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