KONG: Skull Island

[greenman]

Why were there skulls on it, then?

There not so big.

[Glebe]

About five minutes into the film, these two annoying teenage girls turned up, and sat right by us playing games on their mobile phones, talking loudly to each other, and rustling food in a way that you can't possibly do if you're eating food normally.  I was getting visibly annoyed.

So I went to see this the other night, the next showing was the IMAX screening, so I said, "Fuck it" and treated myself. During the trailers, a young couple sat down next to me and starting talking very loudly, which didn't bode well... then the film comes on and the fucking 3D is all wonky. No one else kicked up a fuss, but I went and got a refund and went to a later non-IMAX 3D showing. So people are sitting there waiting for the film to start, and some loudmouth fucking braindead arseholes come in, one in particular practically shouting every sentence he utters. They didn't exactly scream through the film, but they made their presence felt and I was sitting there fuming thinking, "I just got a fucking refund for the last showing..."

Aaaanyway... the film itself. It's certainly a visual feast, and there are some cool monsters and action sequences and funning around, but I just felt it was all rather heavy-handed and lacking in finesse. The ingredients were all there for a great movie, I just wish it didn't all feel so jerry-rigged together... it actually reminds me of Suicide Squad in that respect (it even also uses Sabbath's 'War Pigs' on it's by-the-numbers soundtrack). Some attempt is made to make the characters likeable, but there's too many of them and ultimately they're treated in a very arbitrary manner. Peter Jackson's Kong may have been over-stuffed, but at least it had genuine heart.

So mixed feelings about it here, tending towards 'thumbs down'.

but where were the

Spoiler alert

killer ants

[close]

that threatened to appear in the final act. It felt like a whole sequence had been cut.

Yeah, definitely... when they

Spoiler alert

moved out of the forest, I was thinking, "What about the ants?"

[close]

[Replies From View]

You can't constantly have

Spoiler alert

ants

[close]

in everything, mate.  Sometimes for a balanced diet you have to not have

Spoiler alert

ants

[close]

.

[Jack Shaftoe]

About five minutes into the film, these two annoying teenage girls turned up, and sat right by us playing games on their mobile phones, talking loudly to each other, and rustling food in a way that you can't possibly do if you're eating food normally.  I was getting visibly annoyed.

Old lady got up, and said to both of them "If you're going to stay in this film then you're going to be quiet and you will turn your phones off.  My grandson has specifically invited me here to take my mind off the fact that it's the anniversary of his grandad's death today.  He's sitting there, look, and I'm sure you don't want to ruin his day".

That's brilliant. I saw it last night and had some thicko and his young son start commentating about fifteen minutes from the end, starting with the dad saying 'Yeah RIGHT' at some thing happening.

I wanted to say, dude, you passed the point of saying 'Yeah RIGHT' when you walked past the poster. I didn't, obviously, I just turned round in a cross way and glared near them. It didn't work.

[Replies From View]

"Yeah RIGHT.  As IF there would be

Spoiler alert

NO ANTS

[close]

in this film."

[Jack Shaftoe]

I forgot about the

Spoiler alert

ants

[close]

the second the scene had moved on, and now I'm a bit annoyed about the

Spoiler alert

no ants

[close]

, to be honest.

[SavageHedgehog]

Even at an hour less than the last one, the set-up still drags and feels padded. Tom Hiddleston is miscast, would be disastrously so if his character actually did anything memorable. Brie Larson's character is a terrible hack 90s screenwriter[nb]One of them did co-write Freejack[/nb] idea of a "strong, progressive woman". There are about 20 majorish human characters, 3 of which pass muster as something resembling interesting, with maybe another two getting by on some minimal charisma.

Despite all that, for about 75% of the time this was a total blast, like an above-average Asylum movie given a decent budget and competent craftsman. In many ways this plays it safe compared to both Jackson's film and the 2014 Godzilla, and I hate to prefer the committee-made, corporate response to flawed work with at least a hint of genuine authorship, but in this case I do.

[Replies From View]

Spoiler alert

They should have had deformed, genetically mutated King Kongs in different caves around the place, begging to be put out of their misery.

[close]

[up_the_hampipe]

Tom Hiddleston is miscast

Of course he is. He's one of the big stars of the moment, so they're going to shove him in a bunch of blockbusters that he has no business being in.

[greenman]

Does he laugh though his teeth?

[Replies From View]

Does he laugh though his teeth?

Spoiler alert

Somebody else's teeth, if I recall correctly.

[close]

[biggytitbo]

Of course he is. He's one of the big stars of the moment, so they're going to shove him in a bunch of blockbusters that he has no business being in.

Does he play a King Kong in this and get his hairy bum out for the girls?

[Custard]

He's the 2010s Adrien Brody. And we all know what happened to the previous Adrien Brody

[Rolf Lundgren]

I really liked it. It's great fun and a proper adventure. Kong being shown early on was a plus for me. There's no point building the mystique around him because we already know he's a bloody great big gorilla. The best introduction we could get to him was watching him smash up a load of helicopters.

Hiddlestone is miscast yes but the character didn't have much to him. His opening scene is great and then the rest of the film he's nothing like that. I quite liked the ambiguity behind Samuel L Jackson's character at first and guys like John Goodman are a joy to have around even if they are underused. I loved the idea of having these little groups of people all trying to reach the same destination rather than focusing on the same characters.

The thing that set it apart from other blockbusters was the unpredictability of it. Up until the end it wasn't obvious what was going to happen and who was going to survive.

Spoiler alert

For example Chapman getting bumped off halfway through without a moment's thought. All the time you're thinking he's got to survive because he's got a son then bang. Whoosh. Dead. Cole going right towards the end was unexpected too.

[close]

It's not a patch on Peter Jackson's King Kong but it's a different type of film. It's a blockbuster they want to turn into a franchise and it's got the hallmarks of that but with more than enough to keep you entertained.

[Norton Canes]

After a poorly executed pre-credits sequence it's a pretty good, intriguing movie for an hour or so - the 1973 period setting lends interest. By the end though it's lost all nuance and turned into a regular CGI beast slug-fest. It's a shame

Spoiler alert

Samuel L. Jackson's character ends up a cliched villain - to begin with he elicits some sympathy

[close]

. And if Tom Hiddleston ever wants to be in an action movie again he needs to learn how to create a decent character, even if it's only by giving him some hackneyed trait like, I don't now, a different fucking accent or something.

[Norton Canes]

Oh and there's that horrible bit where

Spoiler alert

the stranded airman talks about how he named the Skullcrawlers and everyone just drops completely out of character for LOLs

[close]

. Awful.

[chocky909]

Not a perfect film but a lots of good fun and good monster animations.

Also, someone noticed it earlier in the thread but Reilly's jacket tickled me.

Spoiler alert

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIaPvWWQli0

[close]

[Replies From View]

GOOD FOR YOUR SKULL would have been more apposite.

[Small Man Big Horse]

This is now available, though it's a version with Korean subtitles.

[Replies From View]

This is now available, though it's a version with Korean subtitles.

I've still never even heard of it.

[Steven]

I've still never even heard of it.

It's a language native to the inhabitants both Koreas: the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

[Replies From View]

It's a language native to the inhabitants both Koreas: the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

It still rings no bells.

[biggytitbo]

Kong King  - King Kong somehow because the King of England, mayhem ensues!

[Small Man Big Horse]

Aaaanyway... the film itself. It's certainly a visual feast, and there are some cool monsters and action sequences and funning around, but I just felt it was all rather heavy-handed and lacking in finesse. The ingredients were all there for a great movie, I just wish it didn't all feel so jerry-rigged together... it actually reminds me of Suicide Squad in that respect (it even also uses Sabbath's 'War Pigs' on it's by-the-numbers soundtrack). Some attempt is made to make the characters likeable, but there's too many of them and ultimately they're treated in a very arbitrary manner. Peter Jackson's Kong may have been over-stuffed, but at least it had genuine heart.

So mixed feelings about it here, tending towards 'thumbs down'.

I mostly agree with what you say there, many of the characters were pretty dull (bar John Goodman and John C. Reilly), and I'm surprised that Larson and Hiddlestone joined the project given the weak script, but the monster scenes were entertaining enough for me that I liked it overall. As mentioned above the fight sequences were really quite inventive, and I enjoyed the fact that only a few of the cast survive in the end. But I do have to admit that I went in with lowish expectations, and watching it for free makes a big difference with me as well, if I'd paid £15 I'd probably be much harsher about it.

[nedthemumbler]

Just finished watching this.  What a parp of forgettable fluff.  Was very pretty in places, but neither the script nor the actors delivering it seemed to give a toss about anything. 

Just a 'will this do' stepping stone to get to a film they hopefully actually want to make, when Kong's and Godzilla's plot dribbles converge.

Absolutely do not rate, especially when compared to the often excellent Planet revamps.  But if they couldnae be arsed, I'm not even gonna give it a satisfying hatchet deconstruction. 

If forced/determined to sit in front of this, a game for you all.

To give it some interest, have a guess before it starts of the soundtrack.  Setting, towards the end of the Vietnam War, somewhere in the South Pacific.  If you don't get more than ten guesses right, you have never seen films before.