What's in a name/title?

Rating: Null/10 (10 March 2017)

I plead justifications for re-cycling my summary line from "Logan" where I suggested that it highlights the movie's emphasis in portraying Logan more as a human being than a mutant. Here, the inclusion of "Skull Island" in the title obviously suggests that this movie is just as about this island as it is about Kong. At this juncture allow me to quickly note a few differences between this one and the previous one, Peter Jackson's version of the folk legend filmed in 2005. I won't go any further back, although there are plenty more.
The most fundamental difference, as mentioned, is that Skull Island features equally as a "main character". Kong never even left the island in this first instalment. Yes, sequels are coming. Even if you miss the advertising "hook" after the end credit roll, use of the song "We'll meet again" right at the end of the movie is painfully obvious.
So, what happened on Skull Island? We need to go back to the time before this movie set right after the Vietnam War. In a nutshell, there was an earth-shattering (very literally) territorial fight between giant monkeys and giant lizards. After what must have been terrifying carnage, lizards were back underground where they came from, and only one monkey survive, as guardian and king of the island, a self-appointed protector of the natives from occasionally reemerging lizards and an assortment of sundry other over-sized creatures.
Let me first get over with the differences I mentioned between Kong-2005 and Kong-2017. The first is size. This one absolutely dwarfs all its predecessors for a good reason: not particularly for this movie, but as a prerequisite for a planned crossover, "Kong vs Godzilla". The good old Kong just wouldn't do, completed outclassed. Secondly, as can be deduced from what I mentioned earlier, this Kong is more of a friend than an enemy. The introduction of him is also done very differently. Kong-2005 (as all previous ones too, I am sure), takes its good time, appearing only after the first hour of the movie. Kong-2017 shows up just after thirty minutes, and in no way shrouded in mystery, but in full majesty (you see right away that this one isn't going to climb the Empire State Building – it IS the Empire State Building). Going a bit deeper into the psychological plane, while the relationship between "beauty" and the Kong before has always been somewhat erotic, here it is more like platonic friendship. Hence, Andy Serkis's (Kong in 2005, with Gollum as credentials) level of human motion and facial expression capture is not required here.
We have a big cast here which is basically divided into two separate groups upon being stranded on Skull Island, to reunite only towards the end. The simpler group to describe is the military, recent Vietnam veterans given another chance to see action, a "chance" received very differently by various members. While most actually want to go home, their leader Packard (a piece of cake for Samuel L. Jackson) is positively beaming. Among the company, most notable is a young private played by talented actor Thomas Mann who played "me" in the movie "Me and Earl and the dying girl" (2015). Stuck by chance with the military is Randa (an always effective John Goodman), who initiated the adventure to Skull Island (permit me to leave out the plot device which is not exactly innovative).
The other group, all civilians, has a more complex makeup. One most obvious thing you'll note right away is, in terms of casting, its multicultural nature, blatantly market-oriented. The golden guy and gal are British ex-service man Conrad (not terribly demanding work for Tom Hiddleston) hired for his tracking skills and war reporter Weaver (Brie Larson) who is at special pains to stress that she is an "anti-war reporter". On a personal note, as I regret very much staying away from Larson's Oscar-winning performance in "Room" (2015), pleading claustrophobia, I welcome this first encounter, although this one likely require only 10% of her acting skill.
But one actor that truly steals the show, upon appearing at the mid-point of the movie, is seasoned veteran John C. Reilly playing a soldier stranded on this island for well over two decades, from right before the end of WWII.
One thing everybody talks about is how this movie pays tribute to "Apocalypse Now" (1979). If you haven't noticed the tell-tale poster, when you see the platoon of fighter helicopters soaring over the tropical landscape, even without Ride of the Valkyries, you can discern as much. The boat trip one the foggy river is a tad overdoing it.