Review - Kong: Skull Island (2017)

          Hey guys, Chuck here. We, we're exactly one week away from the release of Godzilla vs. Kong, and it's time to take a look at the second entry in the MonsterVerse: Kong: Skull Island. Released in 2017, this chapter in Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures' giant monster franchise was directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts, who opted to take the Kong story in a different direction from what came before. As opposed to the "beauty and the beast" narrative of the classic King Kong films, and even the 2005 Peter Jackson version, the filmmakers opted to set the film at the tail end of the Vietnam War, giving the film more of a vibe similar to the Francis Ford Coppola 1970's classic Apocalypse Now. So, let's dive into Kong: Skull Island. 

         The movie actually opens during World War II, where two fighter pilots, an American pilot named Hank Marlow and a Japanese pilot named Gunpei Ikari, crash land on a beach on Skull Island, where after a fight between the two breaks out, the appearance of Kong, a giant ape-like monster that lives on the island, stops them from fighting. Years later, in the year 1972, scientists Bill Randa and Houston Brooks show a Congressman contact of Randa's a set of satellite photos of Skull Island, requesting a piggyback on a LandSat survey of the island, with a military escort. The Congressman authorizes this, as Brooks mentions that the Russians will be getting satellite photos of the island soon, and the Congressman would want Randa and Brooks to get to the island before the Russians even get there. 

         The military escort consists of a military unit under the command of Col. Preston Packard, and among the soldiers under his command are the likes of Cole, Slivko, Mills, and Chapman. Randa and Brooks also hire former British SAS Captain James Conrad to act as a tracker, while photojournalist Mason Weaver joins the mission to document the the mission with pictures. The assembled mission crew, after a briefing of the mission, flies via helicopters to the island, where Brooks, along with a scientist named San Lin, set up the survey equipment, while Packard's men drop seismic charges to map the surface. It is during this seismic survey where Brooks learns that the island's bedrock is hollow. The helicopter convoy is then attacked by Kong, killing several of Packard's men in the process. 

        Packard, along with a few of his surviving men, regroup with Cole and Mills, who were on the helicopter with Randa, whom Packard confronts. Randa reveals that he is an agent of Monarch, and wasn't trying to survey the geology of the island, but was trying to draw out Kong, and prove that monsters are real. Packard then decides that the next move is to meet up with Chapman, who was flying a Sea Stallion filled with enough weapons to kill Kong, in retaliation for the deaths of his men. 

        Meanwhile, Conrad, Weaver, and Slivko meet up with Brooks and San, along with one of the LandSat techs, and the group is s confronted by the island natives, the Iwi. Along with the Iwi is Marlow, who takes Conrad and co. to the Iwi village, where he tells them of Kong, who attacked because the seismic charges stirred up a nest of nasty lizard creatures called Skullcrawlers. It is also believed that if Kong, the last of his kind, were to die, then the Skullcrawlers would take over, and nothing on the island would be safe. So, Conrad, Slivko, Brooks, San, and Marlow work on fixing up a boat made up of plane wreckage, among other kinds of wreckage, while Weaver uses her camera to get pictures of everyone and everything in the Iwi village, and has a brief encounter with Kong outside of the village. With the boat working, Conrad, Marlow, and co. bid their farewells to the Iwi and set off on their way to the designated point of the island where more helicopters will be arriving. 

           Packard, Randa, and co. meet up with Conrad, Marlow, and co, when they encounter one of the Skullcrawlers, which kills Randa and a few more of Packard's men. Packard, however, still wants to get to the Sea Stallion, despite the fact that a Skullcrawler killed Chapman. Packard is still hellbent on killing Kong, despite warnings from Marlow and Conrad against that, as they know that Kong is the only one that can stop the Skullcrawlers. The ensuing moments show Packard attempt to kill both Kong and the largest Skullcrawler, named by Marlow as the "Big One," but Packard dies instead, Cole sacrifices himself in an effort to stop the "Big One," and dies in the process, and Kong arrives, and kicks the crap out of the massive Skullcrawler, allowing Conrad, Weaver, Marlow, San, Brooks, Mills, and Slivko to escape the island via the helicopters arriving at the rendezvous point. Marlow returns home for the first time since World War II, reuniting with his wife, and meeting his now-adult son for the first time. Conrad and Weaver, held in an interrogation room, demand their release, with Weaver threatening to whomever is holding them that she'll tell the Russians about the island. Brooks and San enter, welcoming Conrad and Weaver to the Monarch facility, and showing them files that prove the existence of other monsters, as well as a film reel containing footage of cave paintings of Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, and Ghidorah. 

         While I, myself, haven't been too big a fan of King Kong, I gotta say that I thoroughly enjoyed Kong: Skull Island. The cast of the movie, including the likes of Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, John Goodman, Samuel L. Jackson, and John C. Reilly, are all terrific and work well on screen together. I like the idea of making Randa and Brooks both agents of Monarch, which helps to tie this film with Godzilla. Not only that, but the after-credits scene with the film reel of the set of cave paintings set up Godzilla: King of the Monsters really nicely. 

       The Vietnam War-era setting is also a genius move, as it allows the film to stand out from past King Kong films. The writing and directing are both top-notch, and again, clearly are inspired by Apocalypse Now. Jordan Vogt-Roberts did an excellent job with this one, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I'm giving Kong: Skull Island a rating of 5/5. This is Chuck signing off. Join me on Sunday for the final chapter of the MonsterVerse: Godzilla: King of the Monsters.