On Kong: Skull Island

What could go wrong? A film about King Kong set during the Vietnam War. It’s a match made in heaven and amazing that no one has tried this before. And, Kong: Skull Island is replete with Vietnam and 70s iconography, from the tape deck to the slow-mo shots of helicopters dropping bombs. It is hard to dislike. Yet, Skull Island is a film you should dislike, for despite the attention to detail, someone forgot to create characters or direct the actors. Aside from John C Reilly, the characters here are paper-thin: the crazy one, the photographer, the quiet tough guy, the young kid. All plucked from countless war films. All instantly forgettable. In an interview, the director said he considered opening with a little mockery at Peter Jackson’s King Kong (2005) remake and could never understand why it took so long for them to reveal Kong. That remake may have been flawed, but this is a failed piece of work. A great idea, wasted and a bad sign of things to come if it is meant to signal the birth of a monster movie franchise. 

Kong looks great though.