 ***PLEASE NOTE: A Blu-ray 3D disc is only compatible with 3D Blu-ray players.*** Tagline: We don't belong here A secret government organization mounts an expedition to Skull Island, an uncharted territory in the Pacific. Led by an explorer (John Goodman) and a lieutenant colonel (Samuel L. Jackson), the group recruit a disillusioned soldier (Tom Hiddleston) and a photojournalist (Brie Larson) to investigate the island's peculiar seismic activity. But once there, they discover that Skull Island is home to a gigantic ape called King Kong, and find themselves caught up in an ongoing war between the beast and the area's indigenous predators. Jordan Vogt-Roberts directed this reboot of the classic monster franchise. Storyline: A diverse team of scientists, soldiers and adventurers unites to explore a mythical, uncharted island in the Pacific, as dangerous as it is beautiful. Cut off from everything they know, the team ventures into the domain of the mighty Kong, igniting the ultimate battle between man and nature. As their mission of discovery becomes one of survival, they must fight to escape a primal Eden in which humanity does not belong. Written by IMDb Editor Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Michael Reuben, July 20, 2017 With 2014's reinvention of Godzilla and this year's Kong: Skull Island (or "K:SI"), Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures have achieved a studio executive's fondest dream, melding cutting edge technology with venerable name brands to create a successful new franchise. Dubbed "the MonsterVerse", the series is now plunging ahead with its third installment, which will reportedly pit the titular heroes of the first two episodes against each other, thereby updating King Kong vs. Godzilla for the 21st Century. For anyone who remembers the giddy sensation of sitting in a theater watching Toho's original 1962 monster smackdown, the prospect of seeing it revived and reinvigorated should inspire giggly anticipation. Meanwhile, one can enjoy director Jordan Vogt-Roberts (The Kings of Summer) imaginative take on cinema's most beloved ape in this superior Blu-ray presentation. Where Peter Jackson's 2005 remake of Kong hewed closely to the narrative outlines of the 1933 classic, K:SI takes a different approach. It opens in the waning days of World War II, when a pair of aerial combatants inadvertently discover the existence of Kong on a remote island in the South Pacific. But then the film fast-forwards to 1973, in the waning days of yet another war, as U.S. forces withdraw from Vietnam following the Paris Peace Accords. Into this fraught environment comes an expedition led by Bill Randa (John Goodman), who is equal parts scientist and charlatan, and who has persuaded a reluctant U.S. Senator (Richard Jenkins) to fund an effort to map the newly discovered Skull Island. Perpetually shrouded by storms, the island has gone undetected until the advent of satellite imaging. Randa, whose "Monarch" operation should be familiar to veterans of the 2014 Godzilla, says he's only interested in exploration, but he may have ulterior motives. K:SI's script staffs Randa's expedition with a diverse collection of personalities, the better to fill the time between deadly encounters. The company includes a pair of young scientists working for Monarch, one a biologist (Jing Tian) and the other a geologist (24: Legacy's Corey Hawkins); a former British Special Services operative named "Conrad" (Tom Hiddleston), whom Randa hires for his skills as a tracker; a member of the Landsat mapping project (John Ortiz), who's a briefcase-clutching desk jockey wholly out of his element in the jungle; and a combat photographer named Weaver (Brie Larson, Room), who is the very opposite of a flailing damsel-in-distress, having spent the last few years gamely thrusting herself into the worst fire fights she can find. The group's military escort is commanded by Lt. Col. Preston Packard (Samuel L. Jackson), a career officer and seasoned combat veteran who clearly would prefer to remain in Vietnam and finish the job he believes he was sent there to do. Packard leads a squadron of loyal soldiers who are as varied and colorful as the PBN boat crew in Apocalypse Now. Midway through their adventure, the group encounters a former military man named "Marlow" (John C. Reilly), whose history is best left for the viewer to discover. The presence in K:SI's band of adventurers of namesakes for both the real and the fictional authors of Heart of Darkness—Joseph Conrad and Charles Marlow—is not an accident. Just as Francis Ford Coppola's Vietnam epic drew on Conrad's novella for inspiration, Vogt-Roberts' film consciously evokes both Apocalypse Now and, less directly, an entire canon of classic Vietnam films such as Platoon and Casualties of War. As helicopters swoop and hover, plumes of napalm billow and consume, and a fragile boat chugs upriver through a treacherous land, K:SI repeatedly recalls the futile expenditures of military might so memorably portrayed by Coppola, Stone, De Palma and others. Here, too, those excessive displays of force prove to be no match for an enemy defending his homeland, of which the human inhabitants, a reclusive tribe known as the Iwi, worship Kong as their god. K:SI's version of Kong is a triumph of CGI, a photo-realistic creation blended seamlessly with live action and breathtaking jungle landscapes shot on location. (In an ironic turn, many of Skull Island's jungle environs were photographed in Vietnam.) The same convincing realism applies to the menagerie of equally outsized creatures inhabiting Skull Island, including the bloodthirsty subterranean reptiles dubbed "Skullcrawlers", who are Kong's greatest foe. Director Vogt-Roberts cheerfully acknowledges his indebtedness to video games, but where that comparison is often used pejoratively in film, here the helmer has made gaming perspectives work to his advantage, infusing his sequences with a kinetic energy so infectious that you forget you're looking at a digital simulation and surrender to the ride. Standout sequences like Kong's early battle with an entire fleet of helicopters and his final showdown with the Skullcrawler "queen" achieve a convincing and immersive excitement that sets a new standard for the use of CGI in action sequences. And Vogt-Roberts and his team don't skimp on the quieter moments. Kong's interactions with Brie Larson's photographer may offer homages to Fay Wray, but they're weightier and more emotionally complex, even if one party to the relationship is nothing more than a fabrication of ones and zeros. K:SI is yet another example of an overworked franchise being effectively revived by a young filmmaker who successfully melds contemporary flair with a respectful appreciation of what initially made the property a success. Ryan Coogler's Creed resuscitated the Rocky saga by imagining a modern-day version of Sylvester Stallone's original underdog, and now Vogt-Roberts has revitalized King Kong by successfully re-creating the same cocktail of danger, surprise and wonderment that made the 1933 film a landmark. K:SI provides a convincing demonstration that the endless internet complainting about reboots and remakes misses the point entirely. With talent, taste and imagination, even the oldest story becomes new again. Highly recommended. Trivia:
[CSW] -3.8- It's important to decide if you think "Kong: Skull Island" is just a big-budget action movie or that is it the next episode of this eighty-year-old's franchise. As an action film, it's outstanding and hits every note: stuff blows up, some major 'wow' moments, edge-of-seat, skin-crawling tension, break-the-tension jokes, that one weird guy, and a side-order of cheese. I think that although it didn't do any deep character development it did do just enough for me to get past just the action only aspect and let it set the stage for the next in the sequence (actually it set up a Godzilla instead of Kong movie) but that is oaky by me too. In 3D it was jay dropping eye candy combined with the absolutely great D-Box motion made it one of those "I want to experience it again" movies. I can't wait for the Godzilla followed by another Kong movie. Long live the franchise. Remember this Kong is young and still growing. [V5.0-A3.5] MPEG-4 AVC - 3-D 10/10 - D-Box really enhances this movie. Cast Notes: Brie Larson (Mason Weaver), Tian Jing (San), Tom Hiddleston (Captain James Conrad), Corey Hawkins), Samuel L. Jackson (Lieutenant Colonel Packard), Toby Kebbell (Maj. Chapman), John Goodman (Bill Randa), John C. Reilly (Marlow), Thomas Mann), Shea Whigham), Jason Mitchell (Glenn Mill), John Ortiz), Jiaoying Liang (Call Girl), Terry Notary (Kong), Toshiko Onizawa (Waitress at Saigon bar). IMDb Rating (12/10/17): 6.7/10 from 177,566 users
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