Kong: Skull Island <<SPOILERS>>

[RIDDICK]

Word is the opening Kong was indeed actually his parent -- Martha Kong.
This was done so that Batman will be unable to kill the Kong.

 

[Khev]

Ok just got back and here are my feelings.

I enjoyed it a lot... a very enjoyable giant monster movie. Personally I found this to be a better and more enjoyable film to both PJ's King Kong and GE's Godzilla..

You ripped on The Shallows and then praise...this?

Just saw it in IMAX 3D with the kids (yes on a school night since stupid BatB will be kicking it off all Large Format screens in a couple of days.)

The positive:

1. 1970's setting
2. Cool "The Abyss" type scenario with scientists/civilians on one side and a crazed military commander on the other
3. Lots of jump scares that made it a lot of fun to experience with the kiddos
4. Amazing 3D visuals

Notice two BIG things that are not on the above list....

Kong had virtually no character and the weird Tim Burton Beetlejuice dinosaurs were, well weird. Kong's choreography against the skull things seemed to mimic PJ Kong vs. V-Rexes almost exactly. And without any real character or presence to Kong himself it was a case of quite literally "going through the motions."

About 1/3 of the way through the long Kong/main bad guy fight I actually found myself thinking, "wait, is this the final battle? I suppose so..." Not at *all* what I should be wondering during a supposedly white-knuckle climax of a movie like this.

Eh, maybe I would have been more forgiving had this dropped in July and I was in the mood for big dumb entertainment. 2017 has left me flat more than once now, hopefully Ghost in the Shell will be a nice palette cleanser.

 

[Wor-Gar]

For more Monkeyness... see "Monkey Shines"...

 

[jye4ever]

3D didn't do it for me like RO 3rd act did.

Correct about going thru the motions...yawn.

But Logan left you flat?!

Just wait until I tell kara that!

Wait.....oh that's right!

 

[Khev]

3D didn't do it for me like RO 3rd act did.

Correct about going thru the motions...yawn.

But Logan left you flat?!

Right now 2017 is the year of "good but not great" plus whatever Kong was.

Split
John Wick Chapter 2
Logan
Kong

Honestly of those four the John Wick "universe" is the one I'm most interested in right now. Great acting in Split and Logan though, I was just hoping for something more by the time each film ended.

 

[jye4ever]

 

[Khev]

What the...

I'm sorry, I've had a week to mull over Logan now and really soak in everyone's praise but I think at the end of the day I just don't give a crap about the X-Men movies.

Imagine if TDK was somehow a direct sequel to the Burton AND Schumacher films but with the Joker getting killed by grass at the end. That's how I feel about Logan.

I know now why Logan made you cry, but it is something I can nevah do...

*hugs jye yet still robotically looks to the side to see if RO is out on blu-ray yet*

 

[Wor-Gar]

Grass kills him...?

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

Grass kills him...?

Drugs are bad, mkay.

 

[EVILFACE]

I laughed at the meme.

 

[RIDDICK]

Kong had virtually no character

WTF, man? He had a lot of character, just not story.
Strong godlike presence + some emotional moments.
That's more than enough for a kaiju movie.
He's not Joe Young.

I laughed at the meme.

 

[GodzillaSpawn]

I thought Kong had character. Felt his soul through his eyes and mannerisms. I don't know what more character he was supposed to have since I knew this wasn't going to be like other kong films where he protects the damsel that leads indirectly to his demise since I knew what the big picture is here.

The dude got pissed by people dropping bombs. And he saved other animals from man-made unnatural weapons. He had personal beefs with those he saw as the more evil humans.

That's as much character as I expected. Thank God it wasn't him having mood-swings with Naomi Watts again.

Laugh then pout then laugh again. Hated that scene.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[JAWS]

That helcopter scene was really dumb.

If you see a helicopter being destroyed by Kong why would ALL THE OTHER helicopters then go near him!

You're a helicopter, how about flying away from the threat, not towards it!

Ughhh, this movie

Your movie would be boring... I am glad the pilots were dumb...

Wow! I came into this thread expecting almost everyone (not Riddick) to have very positive things to say. I loved the hell out of this movie. I personally think it's one of the best giant monster movies in decades--better than both American Godzillas, Cloverfield, Pacific Rim, Monster (that's about all that's coming to my mind right now). It was a fun, adventure film that was appropriately brutal and a nice set-up for the upcoming monsterverse.

The cast was serviceable. They all seemed to coast through but the script didn't really demand any real range from anybody in a realistic sense. I felt like this movie was purposefully a little more colorful than usual. I think it had more fun being part of the genre than Godzilla did (Godzilla 2014 had identity issues it did not know what kind of movie it wanted to be--this did not). The music, the animated characters, the overly-obsessed Captain Ahab played by Samuel L, it was all a little nostalgic for me. You got to see plenty of Kong and he looked fantastic. My favorite portrayal of Kong yet. I loved how brutal he was to anyone he considered an enemy, even men. Although, I don't buy him seemingly knowing who the good guys and the bad guys were so early on, but I got over that.

This film had some beautiful shots as well. Some of those helicopter shots right before Kong attacks were stunning. And, speaking of, I frickin loved that scene. So many badass looks at Kong and great action. I can totally believe a bloodlusted military outfit being overly confident in a first encounter with a giant ape after leaving Vietnam licking their wounds. Was still stupid, yes, and obviously once **** really went to hell they had time to retreat and fall back. But they probably thought a few good shots with the .50 would put him down.

The spider freaked me the hell out that was nasty.

I loved the final fight as much as I loved the helicopter confrontation, my two favorite moments hands down. And after the credits was a nice little tease.

I do wonder how Kong will measure up to Godzilla. Since crash landing in WW2, Kong didn't seem to grow much (if at all). And the skeletons of his parents were relatively close to his size, and nowhere near the size of Godzilla as he swam under the aircraft carrier. So, unless he has some unnatural surge in height , he might be a good portion shorter and be relying on methodology and speed/agility. Either way, this Kong is a frickin badass.

Saw it twice. Loved it. It's a fun movie and hands down better than Godzilla. I liked a lot of the actors in it even though they weren't used to potential. Cool to see Dr. Dre and Easy-E together again lol. Makes me wish I can go back and change a whole lot of Godzilla 2014 myself.

Agree with just about everything.. Except this being better then Cloverfield... Still my Fav of the modern giant Monster movies.

People who don't like this have had their inner child pass away.. It's very sad really

Perfect Modern Kaiju movie IMO...

That is the Greatest Meme ever!!!

You ripped on The Shallows and then praise...this?

Blah... The Shallows... I own it and have not been tempted to watch it again... The last 15 min were just a total disaster for me... But you knew that.

Give me Kong any day over that one.

Kong had virtually no character and the weird Tim Burton Beetlejuice dinosaurs were, well weird. Kong's choreography against the skull things seemed to mimic PJ Kong vs. V-Rexes almost exactly. And without any real character or presence to Kong himself it was a case of quite literally "going through the motions."

Eh, maybe I would have been more forgiving had this dropped in July and I was in the mood for big dumb entertainment. 2017 has left me flat more than once now, hopefully Ghost in the Shell will be a nice palette cleanser.

I agree about the fight sequence being ripped off from PJ's king Kong T-Re fight.

As for Kong's personality...

Two things..

Everyone needs to remember that the original Kong was not a huge bundle of Personality... He liked a tiny Woman. Otherwise He fought monsters and climbed up a building.

I think everyone is remembering Kong from PJ's King Kong who was almost a Disney version of himself.

IMO Kong had more Personality then Godzilla in G14.... I really hope that they give him a bit of an over hall in the upcoming films...

Problem with Kong in this film is that the story did not seem to revolve around him.. Thus we never really got to know him.


You were not expecting big dumb entertainment from this film


Having said that... As I have stated already.. The movie ended up being way more emotional then I ever thought it would be.. JC Reilly's story had me fully invested in his character.

Right now 2017 is the year of "good but not great" plus whatever Kong was.

Split
John Wick Chapter 2
Logan
Kong

Honestly of those four the John Wick "universe" is the one I'm most interested in right now. Great acting in Split and Logan though, I was just hoping for something more by the time each film ended.

Man we are not seeing eye to eye this year... I can see World War Khev coming soon in these threads...

 

[Khev]

People who don't like this have had their inner child pass away..

Well my kids *did* really like it which in turn made the experience pretty fun for me. I was enjoying their reactions to the movie more than the movie itself.

Everyone needs to remember that the original Kong was not a huge bundle of Personality... He liked a tiny Woman. Otherwise He fought monsters and climbed up a building.

The original Kong was a one-dimensional carnivorous brute yes but he gets a pass because he was pretty much a straight villain and the movie concluded with arguably the most iconic climax of all time. But from 1976 and on Kong has had more layers. in 1976 he was a total perv for Jessica Lange, in 2005 he liked his sunsets, in this one Kong was more of a force of nature than an actual character. We learned basically nothing about what made him tick. In other Kong movies he had a give and take relationship with the natives, in this one he was just some altruistic hero who defended them. Or did he? Were the natives just lucky that his arch enemies were the skull crawlers? We don't know and the movie doesn't even hint one way or the other.

Problem with Kong in this film is that the story did not seem to revolve around him.. Thus we never really got to know him.

Exactly. Which made this movie closer to one of the AvP films than an actual Kong story IMO. Just two monsters fighting with one slightly smarter and more "on our side" than the other.

Having said that... As I have stated already.. The movie ended up being way more emotional then I ever thought it would be.. JC Reilly's story had me fully invested in his character.

I did like his character but the supposedly poignant epilogue showing all of his dreams coming true back in the States went on way too long and was just odd.

Man we are not seeing eye to eye this year...

As with most years I think it all comes down to degrees. I felt a bit let down by Kong: Skull Island but I could see it possibly growing into a guilty pleasure or fun Sunday afternoon type flick in the future. Hell if I had to choose between revisiting Logan or Kong I'd choose Kong.

I can see World War Khev coming soon in these threads...

I don't know what that means, lol.

 

[jye4ever]

Kong's personality was actually not a problem for me, he's angry, i'm good with that.

But no matter how cool looking, angry, tall, fast, agile and strong he was, none of his opponents were worthy.

He might as well just been fighting an invisible monster because it would've been the same thing for me.

Kong vs helicopters was indeed fun, well choreographed and shot but after the 30th chopper I had enough.

Kong vs bad cgi Octo was over very quick and it was just meh. I liked that he ate him though but man that cgi.

Kong vs small dumb skull whatever....Zzzzz.

Kong vs SLJ....Zzzzz.

Kong vs big dumb skull whatever....Zzzzz.

How can Kong NOT have worthy opponents on SKULL ISLAND!

And what the hell was up with that gas mask scene lol!

AvP was better!

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

But no matter how cool looking, angry, tall, fast, agile and strong he was, none of his opponents were worthy.

How can Kong NOT have worthy opponents on SKULL ISLAND!

No SLJ, no dumb skull, no helicopter can stop him.

 

[ironwez20]

Like I said. Should of put gorosaurus in this movie. Would of made sense. A big trex and gorilla fighting for dominance and sets up for the big showdown with the big g

 

[JAWS]

I don't know what that means, lol.

How about Khev vs JAWS

 

[JAWS]

Like I said. Should of put gorosaurus in this movie. Would of made sense. A big trex and gorilla fighting for dominance and sets up for the big showdown with the big g

While I would have loved seeing that.... It's was done in other King movies (Kong vs T-Rex) and we are going to get that is GvK

 

[ironwez20]

While I would have loved seeing that.... It's was done in other King movies (Kong vs T-Rex) and we are going to get that is GvK

But a t.rex vs a giant gorilla never gets old. That's why it's been remade several times. It's just such a great fight.