8/10

Rating: 8/10 (24 July 2017)

Before watching this film, I had convinced myself that the concept of a giant gorilla was played out. That in this day and age, with all the cinematic wonders we are used too. With all the special effects that we take for granted. A giant gorilla just wouldn't cut it anymore.
I'm not one to shy away from being wrong however and this film review will bring no exceptions. so here goes.... I was wrong.
The first thing to say about this film is that it's not the original king kong story, therefore we learn more about Kong and his origin. It may seem obvious to some with the title of the film, but I guess my pessimism had blinded me to the fact that this film wasn't even marketed as the original kong story. As we all know, Kong is not the bad guy, it is in fact mankind who play the bad guys in the kong films. This film is no exception in this respect but I feel like they captured a beautiful balance of human kindness and the very worst we are capable of.
Skull Island uses CGI to it's full potential, the film is beyond visually satisfying for the audience. With every new giant creature Kong comes into contact with we get a perspective of the trials kong faces in protecting the people of the island. There are some truly harrowing scenes throughout the film but all visually thrilling and worth the 2 second cringe that any gore may bring you.
It will pain me to say it, but if anything about the film could have been improved it would have to be the plot. Perhaps a longer build up before we got to see skull island. I'm not quite suggesting the same type of wait we had with Peter Jackson's 2005 King Kong. But a fair balance of the two would have worked nicely.
I rate Skull Island an 8/10