A Very Fun Ride

Rating: 8/10 (10 February 2019)

Kong Skull Island is a summer blockbuster at its finest. It's a great looking spectacle with fun action, and an all-around entertaining flick. There isn't much to it beyond that, but it's not trying to be anything more either. For what the film is it works fine, though could have been improved in some areas. I was cautiously optimistic about seeing this film as it's supposed to be in the same universe as Godzilla 2014, which was one of the biggest letdowns in recent memory, in my opinion. Also, I am not a big fan of Peter Jackson's King Kong. It's good, but not really my cup of tea. It was a great looking film with some good action, but it was far too long, and got really boring in places for me. Thankfully, this film definitely more entertaining than Godzilla or King Kong (2005), but does have some of the same issues as the former.
The story is very simple. A new island is discovered via satellite and is dubbed Skull Island. A team is sent to the island to study the geography and wildlife. They then get attacked by King Kong, as well as other giant creatures that call the island home. Now our main characters must survive and find a way to get off the island.
What this film definitely has going for it is the spectacle. The film looks great, from the cinematography to the score, to the special effects. Unlike Godzilla 2014, which only showed Godzilla full-on for maybe two scenes that only last a few seconds, this film shows us Kong in his full glory very early on and we do see quite a bit of him throughout the movie. Though, I wish we could've seen him more. Also unlike Godzilla 2014 where all the Godzilla action is in the background, when we see Kong in action it's in the forefront and it is very pleasing to watch. All of the action was well-done I thought. If you want to see giant monster action like I did you will get your money's worth. If nothing else, this is an entertaining movie.
The movie has good pacing too. It wastes almost no time in getting to what the audience came to see the movie for.
The characters aren't the strongest. This was one of the things that killed the Godzilla movie for me. Not only was there barely any Godzilla in favor of the humans, but the characters were some of the blandest I've ever seen. A block of wood is less bland than they were.
I think the main issue in this film is that there are too many characters, and many of them get lost in the shuffle. Some characters you forget are even in the film like John Goodman's. Though, the cast here is better than Godzilla because of the actors. Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hiddleston, John C. Reilly, and John Goodman all do a good job performance-wise, though the script lets them down a little. Samuel L. Jackson's character goes through an arc in this film that I did not entirely like and the film could've done without.
The characters here are definitely more fun here than Godzilla, despite my issues with them. I was with them enough where I wasn't bored with the movie, which is something. The movie does attempt to be more fun, unlike Godzilla which was entirely joyless. However, while some of the jokes land others fall flat. Some of the humor comes off as quite awkward and conflicts with the tone of the film.
Overall, Kong Skull Island was a fun experience. If you're looking for a fun monster movie you should have a good time. If you want anything more you might be disappointed. It has great monster action and is a beautiful looking film. The human characters aren't the most interesting, but are still pretty fun to watch. It certainly did not kill the movie for me like it did Godzilla.