Kong: Skull Island

With its flashy IMAX poster, Kong: Skull Island suggests itself as a descendent of Apocalypse Now. It takes place in the era of the Vietnam War, features an excessive helicopter assault, follows soldiers through a dangerous jungle, and contemplates the futility of war and mankind in a primordial environment.

This meditation is not particularly well-balanced amidst the kaiju mayhem that ensues over its two-hour runtime, but its presence is welcome and leaves Kong a competent and thirst-quenching entry in the monster universe that it is designed to introduce us to.

This time around, the explorers of the cinematically legendary Skull Island are a melting pot of scientists, military escorts, civilians, and secretive government agents. Naturally, the right hand rarely has any idea what the left is up to, and the group splinters after their alleged mapping mission is waylaid by the one-hundred-foot-tall title character. Colonel Packard (Samuel L. Jackson) is obsessed with killing the creature, while photographer Mason Weaver (Brie Larson) and hired tracker James Conrad (Tom Hiddleston) come to appreciate Kong’s role as guardian of the island and try to save him.

The misuse of such an impressive cast is one of Kong’s two biggest flaws. Hiddleston is given nothing to do but be a bland and ineffective action hero. John Goodman is wasted as the leader of the monster-hunting government agency Monarch, playing a hollow carbon copy of his outstanding performance as paranoid survivalist Howard in last year’s 10 Cloverfield Lane. Larson manages to skate by as the peaceful iconoclast who recognizes Kong’s benevolence and embodies the hope of humanity. Jackson is also able to leave an impression as the war-crazed colonel, but does so via an overblown marathon of his greatest hits (complete with re-tread lines from Jurassic Park).

Coming out surprisingly unscathed is John C. Reilly as Marlow, a stranded WWII pilot who acts as an exposition dump with heart. He brings an interesting backstory along with many of the film’s more poignant moments on the cycle of destruction humanity finds itself in, and his utilization of the film’s one F-word is its best joke about the chaotic ecosystem the characters finds themselves stranded in.

The movie becomes slightly exhausting when presenting us its multitude of human characters. Each character has one defining trait and slightly more backstory than is typically allotted to the monster food in these types of films. The issue is that this does not mean we feel much sting in watching them get sucked down the gullets of the denizens of Skull Island.

The film is aware that these stock characters are mainly present to be dinner, but it shoves in wobbly personalities to make its subtext on nature’s indifference to mankind’s might and life seem viable. In other words, it wants us to see these characters as technically people, but mainly wants us to relish seeing them torn limb from limb as punishment for being evil cartoon characters.

The hit-or-miss monster action is the movie’s second flaw. Each of the action set pieces is very impressive in its own right, from Kong’s takedown of the helicopter squadron to a game of cat-and-mouse with giant lizards in an ape graveyard. The content is less of the issue than the style, with the movie’s excessive use of slow-motion for the sake of coolness, turning impressive action sequences into laughable ones.

In trying to sell the absurd nature of the film’s action, it often undercuts its supposed critique of mankind’s tendency towards violence. This folly is corrected in the final fight between Kong and a giant lizard, which cuts back on slow-mo goofiness yet still sells the indulgent fun of using a tree as a baseball bat.

But Kong: Skull Island is still a fun ride when it sheds itself of the self-seriousness of other Kong remakes. It retains an impressive ability to make us sympathize with the gigantic ape, doing so by making him a guardian rather than a destroyer. The stage is impressively set for him to go toe-to-toe with Godzilla in 2020, and it will be fascinating to see what sides people draw in that matchup.

More interesting will be to see how this universe is received, as our hunger for seeing amazing battles between these monsters comes at the expense of our total destruction. The positive reaction to Kong and pal’s rampages may prove that this critique of humanity’s self-destructive nature is valid after all.