Entertaining, but lacked a sense of awe and mystery

Rating: 6/10 (13 March 2017)

It was OK. I expected more from it, but what worked was the re-introduction of King Kong. The way he was handled was all right. I did overall liked this portrayal of Kong, he was more fierce and visceral. Even though I would have liked the movie to develop him more, since almost all of his scenes are about him doing action stuff. The very few moments when he calms down and lives normally were nice. But there wasn't enough for me to really buy into it and understand him. Because the other "King Kong" films do a good job of humanizing Kong so he doesn't become a generic evil monster. What makes him different compared to a lot of movie monsters is that he has a heart and some kind of emotional connection. This film would have needed to showcase more of that aspect of Kong's personality.
They went the safe route with the story. I's pretty standard and predictable. It bugged me a bit because I wished they would go in a different direction. Well, they did go in a different direction... With the visual style and the tone. It's a fun and colorfully energized type of movie that doesn't take itself seriously often. I liked the few times it actually toned down and got more serious. Because a big thing this film lacked was a sense of awe and mystery. They show off Kong early on, so there's no time to build up the reveal. I like the Peter Jackson version a lot more because there's eeriness and mystery surrounding Skull Island. Just hearing about the legends of the creatures and exploring the mythology was something that I could get invested in. They leave nothing a mystery in this new film because there's much exposition on what's going on with Kong, his backstory and the different creatures on the island. Instead of gradually exploring it or having the audience realize things along the way, they spell it all out by talking about everything and not showing. Towards the final half they have some mysterious moments, but by then it was already too late for that. It spends more time trying to be retro and looking for moments to play songs from the 70's, rather than giving us a good story. The best character was John C. Reilly. I liked his story line, it was nice. Everyone else was just there basically playing themselves. Many actors were wasted. I'm looking at you Toby Kebbel. You are better than this.
There is a Post-credit scene. It was OK, but underwhelming. It does promise a lot for the future and I hope they don't mess up anything they are hinting at, because it has huge potential. "Kong: Skull Island" is just an entertaining popcorn movie, don't expect much more. I'm happy that King Kong is back, but he deserves a better movie next time.