Kong: Skull Island (2017)

In today's age of the nerd, it seemed inevitable that the kaiju genre might make an appearance in Hollywood. Sure enough, Legendary Pictures has taken up the mantle, almost entirely by themselves. They gave us Pacific Rim, then Godzilla, and now they've given us Kong: Skull Island, with the knowledge that they have acquired rights to other classic Toho monsters as they build for a cinematic kaiju universe (kaiju-verse? kaijuniverse?). Admittedly, I've never been a huge fan of Kong beside the technical aspect of it. The original 1933 film was groundbreaking and influenced an entire generation of filmmakers (including the Japanese creators who gave us the much superior film, Godzilla, in 1954). That said, there's just never been that much interesting stuff behind him. It's not that there's no substance at all; just that it's minor and not that compelling.

Kong: Skull Island suffers a lot of the same issues that have plagued the franchise overall and, frankly, the Legendary kaijuniverse too. What all films have in common is that they do the monster action incredibly well. Despite it's flaws, Godzilla produced two all-time great moments in the character's history. Pacific Rim also offered jaw-dropping action sequences, with an emphasis on scale and power. Kong: Skull Island similarly produces a number of memorable moments within the action. However, like the previous films, the characters and story leave a lot to be desired.

Lacking any real creativity, we once again focus on a group of military personnel (and a few eccentric scientists) as they search for Kong. In many ways, Kong: Skull Island has more in common with things like The Land that Time Forgot, Journey to the Center of the Earth, or even The Lost World than it does the original King Kong or any other kaiju film from yesteryears. After Kong attacks and kills much of the platoon, the survivors are separated and must reach the retrieval point. The island, however, is full of huge and deadly creatures that continue to threaten their lives. Meanwhile, commander Preston Packard (Samuel L. Jackson) is determined to kill Kong in revenge rather than bring his men to safety at the evac point.

Packard offers some substance and depth to an otherwise bland story. It is 1973 and Nixon has just announced a treaty to end the war in Vietnam. A decorated war hero, Packard is convinced that this peace treaty functions similarly to surrender; that all who died gave their lives for nothing. He harbors a grudge towards the peace activists back home, telling Brie Larson's character, "Sometimes a a camera is more dangerous than a gun!" before claiming, "We didn't lose the war; we abandoned it."

The events that unfold on Skull Island serve as a quasi-parallel to the Vietnam War. Everyone involved was under no actual threat from the creatures on this island, but John Goodman and his organization Monarch are convinced it will become a threat to the nation and the world. So, they opt to send troops and deploy bombs, which gets the attention of Kong. The giant gorilla retaliates in vicious fashion, killing a group of men that just a few days earlier, received word that they would be sent home. Meanwhile, rather than recognizing that going after Kong was resulting in additional deaths, Packard digs deeper. He wants to kill Kong just to display the power of the United States military.

Those parallels, which get brought up on a number of occasions (including a great moment wherein they discuss whether these enemies are actually enemies, or if they become enemies because we went looking for them), and that gives it a substance sorely lacking from Godzilla. Still, there's not really any getting around the fact that, for rather well defined characters, none of them really matter much. Most of them are there just to die. They give them brief moments in an attempt to get you to feel something, but at the end of the day, almost all of the soldiers are just fodder. Even more, Tom Hiddleston is completely wasted as the generic white action hero man, who isn't even that important to the story in any capacity. Similarly, Brie Larson is there as an anti-war photographer. She makes a momentary connection with Kong (as is tradition for a white woman to do), but otherwise, she also doesn't have any real impact on anything.

Quite literally, the only characters who matter are Kong and Packard, which makes it hard to care when the monsters start picking off the soldiers and scientists left and right. The story is ultimately better than that of Godzilla, it still leaves much to be desired. John C. Reilly is the only one whose talents they fully realized, but even then, his comedic relief often feels forced, and creates a strange tonal clash. The dialogue is a bit all over the place as well, with a few too many wall-breaking jokes. The very first line of dialogue, as Goodman tries to secure funding from a Senator, is a silly, "Mark my words: there will never be a more dysfunctional time in Washington." Har har har. GET IT?!?

The film also serves as "world building." The entire beginning of the film serves almost exclusively to connect to Godzilla, so that they can build the "cinematic kaijuniverse." The post credits scene even goes all Iron Man in the way it spells out there is a larger world of monsters. It ends with Godzilla's roar, and I don't entirely get it. For starters, if ever a genre of film did not need "world building" and "continuity," it's the kaiju genre. Just play with the toys! If you argue that the lack of interesting human characters or drama is irrelevant because people just want to see monsters fight each other, then explore that! Use that to your advantage. (Granted, they appeared to have heard criticism of not enough Godzilla in Godzilla, and they do the complete opposite of "teasing" Kong. He is on full display within minutes of the film.)  It also just seems strange to tease a movie that came out three years ago.

To be sure, there is much to like and appreciate about the film. Kong: Skull Island goes out of its way to avoid too many similarities with the previous remakes. There is no return to civilization, nor climbing New York's skyline. There are some, of course, most notably his affection for the central female character. The story also makes it seem more like an anti-war film than a generic monster movie. And at the end of the day, the action is still great. (Though I find it disappointing that these Western kaiju films continue to be very military-centric, and that they are almost entirely CGI with no discernible practical effects - part of the charm of the genre - it's hard to ignore that these films do have good monster battles.)

Still, it drags throughout - a result of splitting up the group into three for a bit. The writing isn't bad, but it's not particularly great either. Many of the complaints levied at Godzilla easily apply here. Like with Godzilla and Pacific Rim, there is something truly great just under the surface, but the writers just can't quite get there. While the Legendary kaijuniverse is not the train wreck of a cinematic universe that, say, DC's is, there are plenty of reasons to be concerned. Godzilla 2 is supposed to come out in 2019, and then King Kong vs. Godzilla will release in 2020. Given how none of their kaiju films have been especially huge box office hits, it wouldn't be at all surprising to see the entire enterprise collapse before that point. Godzilla 2 has already seen a director step down and the release date get pushed back a full year. I'm not sure Kong: Skull Island will really drive up enthusiasm for the larger universe.

That said, it's still a fun experience worth seeing in theaters. I'd just maybe suggest going on discount day, or to the matinee.

As an aside: I really wish more directors would shoot in the 1.85 aspect ratio. Guillermo del Toro did for Pacific Rim, and it's great because it maximizes the height of the screen. This helps increase the scale of the giant monsters. The anamorphic 2.40 ratio (cinematic widescreen) is a commonly used format for the "epic, action blockbuster," but there's something a bit disappointing about seeing a giant gorilla fighting a giant lizard creature with the image not taking up the entire height. Feels like an easy way to push the sense of size with these super tall beings. Both Godzilla and Kong: Skull Island use the scope 2.40 ratio.

REDUCTIVE RATING: It's Fine