originally posted in:Septagon Media Club
[u][b]My General Thoughts[/b][/u]
Kong: Skull Island was an excellent monster movie. The characters, though shallow, were all like-able and well portrayed. The monster fight scenes were all brutal and highly enjoyable. Despite some verrrry minor gripes I had with some superfluous characters and weird cinematographic choices, I loved the film. I highly recommend you see this one in theaters, folks. The big screen makes the action that much more awesome. Now we delve into more detail on things I'd like to address in specific. Spoilers will be kept in the spoiler tabs, so don't worry!
[b]The Characters[/b]
The characters were all well written and portrayed. James Conrad and Mason Weaver (Tom Huddleston and Bri Larson) were the strongest and most fleshed out, but every character was easy to understand and identify with despite the relative lack of time we spend with them. John C. Reilly's character took me by surprise; judging by the trailer I thought he would be cheesy comedic relief but his jokes are sparse and funny when they [i]are[/i] delivered. He ends up being a natural medium for exposition and a overall cool character.
There are three main scientist characters, and only the one played by John Goodman is memorable. The other two barely have any screen time or lines, and I feel like they were just in there to fit the diversity quota (they're played by a black man and an Asian woman). They hardly contributed to the film and should've been consolidated into one character, in my opinion.
[b]Samuel L. Jackson[/b]
The writers really knew how to play to Sammy's strengths. Epic speeches, funny phrases ("bitch please!"), and even a call back reference to another film he was in. It's in the spoiler tab if you want it spoiled.
[spoiler]"Hold on to your butts!" Reference to Jurassic Park is in the film, and I found it quite funny.[/spoiler]
One more spoiler if you wish to read.
[spoiler]He even almost says "mother -blam!-er!", but alas, his character is killed midway through the phrase.[/spoiler]
[b]The Action[/b]
Every scene with a monster is tense and brutal. Violence and death occur so frequently and sometimes unexpectedly that you feel a genuine tension for the well being of the main characters. There were a few absolutely amazing set pieces, but unfortunately there was one action scene that I considered to be a misstep. Spoiler alert!
[spoiler]At one point there's a scene where James Conrad uses a sword and a gas mask to run through a cloud of accidentally triggered gas grenades to save a soldier. He's chopping pterodactyls as he runs through the smoke. It's so stupid that it breaks the suspension of disbelief, just briefly.[/spoiler]
One more spoiler.
[spoiler]One scene where a minor unnamed scientist is randomly and brutally dismembered by pterodactyls occurs unexpectedly at one point during the film. It's meant to be a jump scare. The whole scene feels gratuitous and it felt choppily implemented.[/spoiler]
[b]Cinematography[/b]
The shots in this movie were downright gorgeous. One shot where the helicopters line up in front of Kong in front of the sunset was absolutely beautiful.
There are some first person shots, but for the most part they come of as a brief and awkward distraction. One usage of the first person shot, during a frantic fight scene in the jungle works well, the rest were simply distracting to me.
The opening scene is frantic. Although it's meant to be this way, I feel like it's almost a sensory overload since it's the first thing you watch when the movie opens up. It's a frantic opener, too frantic. An extra minute and a half of tension-adding transitional shots would've gone a long way. Otherwise it's a decent scene by its own merits.
[b]Closing thoughts[/b]
Overall it's a great movie. Had a hard time finding things to nitpick about it. Highly recommend you go see it in theaters! Discuss the film below if you've seen it.
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I enjoyed the movie but personally thought the one with Jack Black was better. Nothing on Skull Island terrified me like some of the shit in that movie did
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I'm just excited since it gets us one step closer to Kong vs Godzilla. And all other monsters included with them. I'm just pumped for modern monster brawls. Also who cares about massive character development? It's a god damn monster brawl movie. If you go into it expecting anything else and you're disappointed, that's your own fault
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Poo poo
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Aright dad
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Eh. Was ok. The end credit scene though...
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but I saw the "Monarch" organization in the trailer, which was also in the newest Godzilla movie?
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Edited by Nikola Vexla: 3/22/2017 7:24:31 AMIt was fun as hell. Kinda B-movieish. But that end credit scene was amazing
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5/10 They tried too hard to be funny at random times throughout the movie, and the dialogues were pretty garbage. I liked the explanation for Kong's origins but that's about it.
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I liked the fight scenes a lot. It seemed to me like the middle of the movie was just kill this person of cause why not.
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I just watched it tonight in 3-D, and I have to say I liked it way more then the last Kong movie. I have to say though it had a little bit of a Moby Dick vibe.
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Edited by MuKoKu: 3/21/2017 2:35:17 AM[quote][u][b]My General Thoughts[/b][/u] Kong: Skull Island was an excellent monster movie. The characters, though shallow, were all like-able and well portrayed. The monster fight scenes were all brutal and highly enjoyable. Despite some verrrry minor gripes I had with some superfluous characters and weird cinematographic choices, I loved the film. I highly recommend you see this one in theaters, folks. The big screen makes the action that much more awesome. Now we delve into more detail on things I'd like to address in specific. Spoilers will be kept in the spoiler tabs, so don't worry! [b]The Characters[/b] The characters were all well written and portrayed. James Conrad and Mason Weaver (Tom Huddleston and Bri Larson) were the strongest and most fleshed out, but every character was easy to understand and identify with despite the relative lack of time we spend with them. John C. Reilly's character took me by surprise; judging by the trailer I thought he would be cheesy comedic relief but his jokes are sparse and funny when they [i]are[/i] delivered. He ends up being a natural medium for exposition and a overall cool character. There are three main scientist characters, and only the one played by John Goodman is memorable. The other two barely have any screen time or lines, and I feel like they were just in there to fit the diversity quota (they're played by a black man and an Asian woman). They hardly contributed to the film and should've been consolidated into one character, in my opinion. [b]Samuel L. Jackson[/b] The writers really knew how to play to Sammy's strengths. Epic speeches, funny phrases ("bitch please!"), and even a call back reference to another film he was in. It's in the spoiler tab if you want it spoiled. [spoiler]"Hold on to your butts!" Reference to Jurassic Park is in the film, and I found it quite funny.[/spoiler] One more spoiler if you wish to read. [spoiler]He even almost says "mother -blam!-er!", but alas, his character is killed midway through the phrase.[/spoiler] [b]The Action[/b] Every scene with a monster is tense and brutal. Violence and death occur so frequently and sometimes unexpectedly that you feel a genuine tension for the well being of the main characters. There were a few absolutely amazing set pieces, but unfortunately there was one action scene that I considered to be a misstep. Spoiler alert! [spoiler]At one point there's a scene where James Conrad uses a sword and a gas mask to run through a cloud of accidentally triggered gas grenades to save a soldier. He's chopping pterodactyls as he runs through the smoke. It's so stupid that it breaks the suspension of disbelief, just briefly.[/spoiler] One more spoiler. [spoiler]One scene where a minor unnamed scientist is randomly and brutally dismembered by pterodactyls occurs unexpectedly at one point during the film. It's meant to be a jump scare. The whole scene feels gratuitous and it felt choppily implemented.[/spoiler] [b]Cinematography[/b] The shots in this movie were downright gorgeous. One shot where the helicopters line up in front of Kong in front of the sunset was absolutely beautiful. There are some first person shots, but for the most part they come of as a brief and awkward distraction. One usage of the first person shot, during a frantic fight scene in the jungle works well, the rest were simply distracting to me. The opening scene is frantic. Although it's meant to be this way, I feel like it's almost a sensory overload since it's the first thing you watch when the movie opens up. It's a frantic opener, too frantic. An extra minute and a half of tension-adding transitional shots would've gone a long way. Otherwise it's a decent scene by its own merits. [b]Closing thoughts[/b] Overall it's a great movie. Had a hard time finding things to nitpick about it. Highly recommend you go see it in theaters! Discuss the film below if you've seen it.[/quote] Spoilers ahead: [spoiler]I thought it sets up for Kong to purely run on plot device. "He's still growing" but his parents are still not that big. If they were significantly bigger, then The Big One wouldn't have been that big of a threat. He's weak to fire and 50-cals and helicopter blades. Even if he were to grow, the only way that Kong would win against Godzilla would be by sheer bullshit. I'm rooting for Godzilla anyways but if they make it a draw or for Kong to win, it would be stupid. The only way it'd work out would be if they ended up teaming up for a more imposing threat. I feel like the next movie featuring this same Kong will be pretty hogwash if it's consistent with this movie. The "realism" was horrendous with the grave yard scene (the poison gas) and a few other critical plot moments. I gave it 3 stars only for the cinematography and special effects. The cast/human element to the story was also descent.[/spoiler]
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I give it 6/10. I enjoyed watching it. But who doesn't enjoy watching a giant gorilla punch the shit out of everything? Otherwise the characters were all forgettable and not really important. [spoiler]I honestly laughed out loud in the theatre when Tom Hiddleston's character was chopping up dinosaur birds in slow motion with a katana.[/spoiler]
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My favorite part of the whole movie is when Samuel L. says: [i]"bitch, please"[/i].
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It was a pretty weak film with little plot worth noting. Samuel Jackson played his predictable stereotype, there was no going into depth about the the new plot device of having the hollows filled with these monster-like things. It was a high octane monster flick, designed to keep the feeble-minded entertained.
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Edited by shadowunseen: 3/20/2017 11:12:33 PMhavent seen it, but tired of movie remakes. refuse to watch them in general.
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John C Reilly was the best thing about that movie.
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I give it a 7/10. Pretty good, but didn't absolutely blow me away. However, there was never a dull moment and I respect that. I'm glad Kong was actually treated like a character unlike Godzilla, who got ten minutes of screen time in HIS OWN MOVIE. Skull Island had many moments that made me go "Wow, nature is beautiful." It also had many moments that made me go "HOLY S%#T, DAMN NATURE YOU SCARY AS F#%K!!!". My last comment is a criticism though. Despite all the losses the characters say they have, it looked like in the graveyard scene, A LOT more guys died than they said they had!
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My father saw this, should I?