‘Kong: Skull Island’ Puts The Toho Back Into The Modern Monster Movie | Film Review

When I was a wee lad my older brother said to me : “ Goater (he branded me with this nickname, don’t ask),  we are going to watch Godzilla!” and this began my love affair with Toho-era movies. From that moment on I had to make room in my little heart for the Kaiju,  they ended up on a shelf mushed in with giant transforming robots, cartoons of cars and masks, superheroes, magic,  and space wizards with laser swords. So I’ll admit it, I was very much in the bag for Kong: Skull Island. 

A team of scientists, put together by a wild-eyed John Goodman and Corey Hawkins, explore an uncharted island in the south Pacific. Initially they think they have found a primordial Eden, but quickly discover that they have ventured into the domain of its king: Kong, the island’s protector. Man and nature clash and what was once a mission of discovery becomes a fight for survival. It’s your average “people go someplace armed for bear but come up against a 100 foot tall ape” tale. We have all been there, am I right? 

Ultimately the story didn’t give me anything new to work with. It was simple and clean and they tried their best to not complicate it. With a story this tried and tested it means that they can’t leave anything to chance. The execution on everything from the cast to the effects have to be solid. Everyone succeeded at their mission. In the process of making this movie ,they also paid a lot of fan service to those Toho-era Kaiju movies I loved so much. If you ever saw Godzilla: Monster Island, and paid particular attention to the scenery, sounds, and other lifeforms, then I feel like you’ve seen Skull Island (the place itself). The difference here is we now have the technology and the ability to create a new vista, in lieu of just being set on some soundstage with guys in rubber suits. It’s so much more of an immersive location here, oddly more of a tangible world than it ever has been in the past.

 
The cast was solid, but oddly forgettable in the presence of Kong. Though some have expressed a concern, I don’t have an issue with this in any way, it’s something that commonly happened in these movies and I have come to expect this from the Kaiju series. To me this has everything to do with the type of movie it is, who they are isn’t nearly as important as being able to see yourself among them. See what they see, live what they live. 

Speaking of, they did a lovely job on all of Kong. He had a fleshed-out back story, hinted at his future, and showed his personality. Yes! He had a personality. That is something that was popular in the rubber suit days of Kaiju movies but was forgotten in the last few decades of these digitally created movie monsters. Now, I’m not saying that the big ape did a song-and-dance routine, nor am I saying that they showed him playing and joking about. He was a lone guardian, the last of his kind. When you first meet him, he very much feels like Clint Eastwood staring you down telling you to get off his lawn. Kong was a wonderful character who hopefully exemplifies what we will see coming down the pipe from Warner Bros’ appropriation of the Toho monsters. Even though purists will accurately proclaim that Kong was originally an American creation. 

How about those human co-stars though? Tom Hiddleston shows you that he just can’t seem to stop being charming, and that he is meant to wear more shirts that show off his arms. Brie Larson is much more than a damsel in need of saving, she’s a spunky woman in a man’s world. As a photographer though, she could quite possibly have the worst timing in taking photos. Not in a way were she’s a liability, more so in a way where she isn’t ever taking pictures of the sights she should be taking pictures of. John Goodman and Sam Jackson seem to have a tag team agreement on who gets to be this parties Captain Ahab, with both having their own motivations for taking the role. Jackson being the soldier looking for a mission Ahab, Goodman your proverbial “White whale did a bad thing and I need revenge” Ahab. John C. Riley does a great job at reminding us all to laugh, which is imperative in a film like this. 

If Warner Bros dropped their efforts in building the D.C. properties into something viable, and focused their attentions instead on building this reimagined Toho Universe, I would be absolutely ok with that. I left Kong: Skull Island  with a big goofy grin, as this version of Kong gave me hope for the world as a whole.

And for almost two hours, I felt in touch with Goater, one more time. Isn’t that what going to the movies is all about?