Kong: Skull Island (2017)

[Moonlight SY-3]

My staff and I just threw a few more thousand yen at it last Monday (theater about 1/3 full). Finally got to see it in English! And in 2D. The 3D was fine, but since I don't wear glasses, just having to wear the 3D glasses is a distraction.

The Japanese dub was also just fine, but it's still much better to hear Samuel L. and John C. in English.

Some fun comments, that although I don't think are spoilerly at all, might be best hidden:



So yeah, great movie!

[Jinzo Ningen]

Quick thought....

Kong's doing really great, which is ...really great.

If G'19 & GvK do well, do you think we'll perhaps see Kong in another solo outing? I'd certainly be up for it. My nerdgasm hit overdrive just thinking about the possibility of them doing a loose remake of King Kong Escapes!

[lhb412]

^ I was thinking the other day that they could do another solo Kong film set in the '80s (so Kong would still be 'small' enough to directly interact with humans) and could bring back some of this cast.

Of course, having Dr. Hu and Mechanikong would be the dream.

[Jinzo Ningen]

IF (and this is a kinda big "if") they combine the PacRim universe with the MonsterVerse, then MechaGodzilla and MechaniKong are both well within the realm of possibility. And even if it doesn't happen, it sure is fun to dream about it, huh?

[O.Supreme]

I know this sounds odd...But I think that one of the films most desirable traits to me was that Kong was not taken off the Island to a modern city. This hasn't happened since Son Of Kong, and I actually enjoyed it. Now...a "battleground" for Kong & Godzilla could be any number of environments, but I think it would be kind of fun if, wherever they go with it, that it occur NOT In a major metropolis. There are plenty of Jungle, Forrest, Island, Desert, Mountain, ocean...you name it, environments they could battle in. Kind of a throwback to a number of Toho films were expensive city miniatures were not used as cost-cutting measures. I know with CG its all different, but I'd love to see most if not all the battles take place away from majorly populated areas.

[DannyBeane]

[Gojira-2000]

Maybe one of the battles should take place in Janjira City, it's abandoned and isn't likely to be repopulated anytime soon I'd imagine.

[lhb412]

[Henry88]

[Benjamin Haines]

[Gman2887]

Kong has now passed Godzilla '14 worldwide with $534 million.

[lhb412]

Man, even with the onslaught of competition it seems to have outpreformed expectations pretty much everywhere are has had more legs than anyone expected!

[Moonlight SY-3]

[O.Supreme]

Never ever in my life have I rooted for Kong to defeat Godzilla ...except in this case in terms of Box Office gains. I am really pleased at how well Skull Island is doing all things considered. It has just now surpassed Godzilla (2014) GBO of 529 M (Kong currently sits at 534M). ...and is still going. Will it topple the King of the Monsters domestically?...probably not, but winning the global market is really more important IMHO. Legendary and WB are happy, no matter where the money comes from.

[Benjamin Haines]

Kong: Skull Island had its best hold yet in weekend five, dropping -35.1% to $5.5 million even as it lost 388 screens. It's now topped $156m in North America along with $161m in China and $14m in Japan.

[Gwangi]

All of this was a big gamble. Heck, it was an even bigger gamble than "Godzilla 2014" (and that itself was a risk). Plus, the added fact that Thomas Tull had stepped down from Legendary, thus, if Kong was a wash (like "The Great Wall"), the talk was that the plug was going to be pulled on this "Monsterverse". I always believe that this universe was going to move forward regardless, with the only question being, how much will this Chinese group invest in it?

Well, it looks like this movie has paid off handsomely. I've sometimes have questioned his motives, but I gotta give kudos to Thomas Tull. Yes, some out there will still gripe that domestically, it did not make the $185 price tag it took to make this film, but the whole game has changed, and the U.S. has become one piece of the pie, a desert that is now shared by several others.

On another note, in seeing ESPN and watching the Chicago Cubs raising their World Series banner, I would like to think that somehow, Hank Marlow lived long enough to see that come to fruition. Warner Brothers and Legendary should have sent John C. Reilly to Wrigley Field just for the fun of it! (and not a bad promo either!).

[O.Supreme]

[MekaGojira3k]

The praise and box office are well-earned. Skull Island was far and away better than G2014 (for my money) so I'm happy to see it be successful.

[daikaijusaurus]

First of all, I am just overjoyed that Skull Island is making as much money internationally as it is. I do wish that it was making more domestically but I guess it's internationally is what counts the most. The way I see it, the more money these MonsterVerse movies make the better, that way we'll see more. If Godzilla King of the Monsters is as fun and action packed as Skull Island, my guess is that it will make a lot more money, especially if Rodan, Mothra and King Ghidorah are all in it. If these movies continue to succeed as they are so far, I think we'll definitely see more movies beyond Godzilla Vs Kong. I'd love to see a Destroy all Monsters type movie after Godzilla Vs Kong, which is what I think Legendary is aiming at after Godzilla Vs Kong. But only time will tell.

In the meantime, we can enjoy some new Kong Skull Island comics while we wait for the next chapter in the MonsterVerse.

Skull Island: The Birth of Kong


What a great time to be a kaiju fan!!

[tbeasley]

[tbeasley]

[lhb412]

^Mmmmmm... makes me hungry for sushi!

[Gwangi]

And Mr. Tsuburaya had that first one for dinner. These poor creatures. They do their scenes. They do them great, and end up on the menu!

Seriously though, that is a great cover!

[Gman2887]

$552 million. It's now passed Peter Jackson's Kong.

[gila-monster]

I finally caught this today. It was entertaining, and overall I enjoyed the film. The special effects were excellent, although I wish the camera angles for a lot of the fights were from a lower perspective to maintain that feeling of large monsters. Also the story felt pretty messy, jumping from subplot to subplot, with no real focus on any characters. I enjoyed the pre-island portion of gathering the crew, but once they were landed it felt a bit directionless.

John C. Reily's character was the best, and I think the story would have been stronger if it focused more on him and less on the others. Goodman seemed to be there only as exposition to tie in Monarch... I think this could have been done a more tactful manner. Which sucks, because he was quite interesting for the brief scenes he was present in. I think my issues with this movie are those similar to Prometheus. Both are good movies, but they could have been a lot better with more streamlining and better direction. There was a lot going on, and some trimming would have added clarity.

But all in all an entertaining movie with great monster designs and lots of great colours and textures making beautiful scenes here and there.