Kong: Skull Island Review

So it took me 2 months and 22 days but last week I finally made my first trip to the cinema of the year. Poor I know, and there are still several films I need to catch up and watch that I have missed! The first film of the year for me took the shape of Kong: Skull Island. Kong: Skull Island is the latest venture into the world of the mighty King Kong and features an impressive cast including stars such as Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L Jackson and John Goodman.

First of all, lets start off with the star studded cast. I’m a big fan of Tom Hiddleston and it was great to see him in a role as the hero and not the villain, which he often is within the Marvel universe. This is definitely one of his best performances to date and he manages to steal the limelight from Kong himself with a first class acting performance. Samuel L Jackson and the rest of the usual suspects put in great performances as well but it was the talented Thomas Mann, best known for his performance as Thomas Kubb in Project X, who really stood out for me. Mann played Reg Slivko a warrant officer of the Sky Devils and whilst he isn’t considered a main character, his performance was definitely a promising one.

Now, onto the big man! For me Kong seemed to lack presence and fear which Kong in the 2005 movie brought to the screen. Whilst his physical power and strength are exhibited from the off, I felt it only took an instant for the characters to get used to the idea of the giant ape. As disappointed as I was with how timid Kong was, some of the fight scenes with him were fittingly ‘monster’ especially towards the end of the film. The final scene where Kong battles against the Alpha Skullcrawler is a colossal captivating feast for the eyes and sets up a mouthwatering spectacle for Kong vs Godzilla in the future.

The plot to Kong: Skull Island is sadly somewhat flat all the way through. It starts off fantastic, jumping straight into the action with a zippy fast pace. Sadly however, this fast pace seems to continue throughout and the film seems to breeze by without a whole lot happening. This is particularly annoying in regards to character development, there are only one or two lead roles who actually have a lot of the focus on them. Whilst the 118 minute run time would suggest that this isn’t a short film, it sure does feel as if we only got to see a slither of what Skull Island has to offer.

Go and watch, wait for the DVD or avoid altogether? – Kong: Skull Island is a great journey back into the world of King Kong and definitely one I will be picking up on Blu Ray when it’s released, despite its small flaws. Go and watch!

Rating: 7.2/10