Kong: Skull Island (2017)

[O.Supreme]

I'm not going to go into long exposition, but I very much enjoyed he film. As a staunch Godzilla fan I'd even say I enjoyed it more than Godzilla 2014 (and I'm not as critical as most about that film). It was fun, and I'd probably see it again if the opportunity presents itself. I see a lot of *critics* coming down hard on the cast saying they were shallow etc... I did not mind. I thought Hiddlestson, Jackson, Goodman, Reilly, and Larsen were all good (don't know who any of the others are...) . I'm sure plenty of people here will defend the human cast, and thats fine. As we've discussed in other threads however, to me these films are all about the monsters, as long as they get them right, I am happy, and they did.

[lhb412]

I thought the movie did a great job of humanizing so many of the grunts. It helps the drama, of course, when so many of the party end up as prey for the various monsters.

[Jinzo Ningen]

Yes, having a mix of threatening and docile monsters was a refreshing thing to see. Nice that not everything they encounter tries to kill them. Also cool that Kong, in his role as primo protector on the island, even extends that to helping out his fellow critters, like the buffalo. The humans were pretty shallowly drawn and acted, but I just don't get the negative feeds from so many on this. I mean, it's a MONSTER movie, not Terms Of Endearment. How many giant monster movies have we seen that have tremendous human depth & complexity? People are there to give us an "in" to the fantastic goings-on and give us something to relate to. In that context, I think almost every actor/character was spot-on. A handful go above & beyond that, as needed. What's the gripe? Seems you just can't please some people. And those KongIsKing guys need to relax and just be thankful that they even have a film to talk about! Sheesh. Bunch of nitpicky, ungrateful whiners.

[Henry88]

‘Kong: Skull Island’ Raises Its Weekend Box Office Opening To $60M
http://www.news.xfoor.com/2017/03/12/ko ... ng-to-60m/

[lhb412]

^ Jeez, the movie beat expectations and has ended up doubling what the worst expectations were saying a while back! Even if the film's profit ends up being thin (which is more due to the film's placement in a crowded field than anything else) it's proved Kong's viability, and while it may have never really been in jeopardy anyway I no longer feel like Godzilla vs. Kong is in any sort of trouble.

[jellydonut25]

[Benjamin Haines]

[Henry88]

$142,615,000
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id ... ry2016.htm

[Gwangi]

[Benjamin Haines]

[KaiserGhidorah]

Glad to hear it's doing well at the box office. I just got back from the movie tonight. I personally thought it was fantastic. I loved the nonstop monster action and Kong had a lot more screen time than Godzilla did in the 2014 film. Also the final battle between Kong and the skullcrawler was epic....loved every minute of that. Overall, I thought it was very well done and can't wait for more....the post credits scene was a foreshadowing of things to come and I'm pumped for it.

[Hybrid Gojira]

Saw it. Loved it. I'd rank it above G14 (easily) and Pacific Rim (just in terms of my own enjoyment - PR is certainly a better film overall).

I do have a few issues with it, such as the CONSTANT 70's soundtrack playing and a specific part of the "graveyard" scene, but overall it's a blast of a movie.

[Outkaster]

I agree with a lot of what is sad here. Too bad the guys on kongisking.net are ripping it apart.

[O.Supreme]

^Screen Junkies seems to be split, but that jerk Andy is the biggest anti-Kong guy on the staff. I get it, the film is not for everyone. He likes Marvel, and *doesn't get* kaiju films, which is fine, he should just not do videos for films he has no interest in, or knowledge of. Instead of making cringe worthy comments about things which he clearly knows nothing about. It's Kind if sad to see that Roth is the only true Giant Monster fan on that cast, and they wont even let her get a sentence out before interrupting her in the reviews. Supposedly Andy & Dan are going to have a Kong Sucks/ Kong is Good fight this week. I hope Dan shuts that fat idiot up.

[mr.negativity]

BMD:

In the grand political tradition of the Kaiju flick.

[Dai]

Kong on Monster Island was a lot of fun. Considering that it lacks my favourite aspect of kaiju movies (city destruction), I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did. Pacing was spot on. Characters were fleshed out just enough to make them likeable, but without getting bogged down on excessive back-story luggage. Being able to enjoy a non-creepy John Goodman character was a treat. Sam Jackson was firing on all cylinders. So many different creatures.

The plot didn't really do anything surprising after how much the first couple of trailers gave away, but it was cleanly executed and satisfying. It's interesting that some moments played for laughs in the big Reilly trailer were played for menace in the movie. I normally prefer action movies to be played pretty straight, but I liked the mix of drama and humour in Skull Island. It was certainly a lot more entertaining than Peter Jackson's dour take on the material.

[Dr Kain]

[O.Supreme]

I was a little disappointed we didn't get to see any creatures not revealed in the trailers (though we did get to see more of them). though Reilly did refer to big ants, which we didn't get to see, but it was still a humorous line.

[lhb412]

I hear Reilly was free to improvise. I wonder if he just made up the ants on the spot?

[Benjamin Haines]

[Hybrid Gojira]

[lhb412]

^ While it is mostly a big, fun monster movie the anti-war element is present in the film. In fact, I'd say some of it pretty blatant. While I like Brie Larson I feel some of her character's lines are a bit too on-the-nose in a 'we need a character to espouse an anti-war viewpoint' way. I think Packard's 'Ahab-ing' in a situation he doesn't understand or care to understand, the pointless deaths of all the men (no one gets to die heroically: they're all killed randomly), and the friendship between Marlowe and Gunpei do the work better.

[Mac]

That article is gibberish. Case in point:

https://twitter.com/cushbomb/status/841334355981144064

[lhb412]

[EricDent]

Just got back from seeing this movie.
It was awesome, fun, and even had the "feels".
Of course I heard about the after credits scene, but seeing it was cool as heck.

Though Kong will need to get REALLY big in order to fight/possibly team up with Godzilla.
I don't think a "Yoda" kind of fight would work on Godzilla...
Wonder if maybe Skull Island gets a nuke going off nearby (enough for fallout to effect Kong)?

While it mentioned he's still growing, if he can take out the "big one" at that size, imagine if he was about 200' taller...