Tom Hiddleston Samuel L. Jackson Brie Larson John C. Reilly John Goodman Richard Jenkins Corey Hawkins
This movie begs the question of why it was made
at all. The story of King Kong has
appeared in various media since 1933, when the original film King Kong appeared. In addition to remakes in 1970 and
2005, there have been countless take-offs of some kind or other ever
since. This tale is not much
different from most—a feared, gigantic monster turns out to have a heart after
all. Perhaps it is related to the
age-old mythological theme of something that we have feared turns out to be
something we treasure. At any
rate, the film also shows very clearly the destructiveness of invading lands
that belong to others without even learning something about them before
blustering in with guns a-blazing.
This part of the film really hurts those of us who don’t feel entitled
to have full rein on the rest of the world.
Kong
casts aspersions on science in the form of Bill Randa (Goodman) who has learned
of a hitherto unexplored island in the south Pacific where whole ships and
their crew have disappeared. Now,
he presents his proposal for a scientific expedition to his Congressman (Jenkins)
who “owes” him. He sells it with
the potential of discovering geological and other information that scientists
know nothing about. In truth, his
motives are not so pristine.
He is granted the funds to go, with—oh, by the
way—a military escort. The war is
just ending in Viet Nam, and one character at least, Packard (Jackson), is
wondering what on earth he is going to do without a war. He is only too happy to lead the
military escort. “Thank you”, he
says at the end of the phone conversation engaging him in a rather dangerous
mission. He has more than enough
hubris to be confident he can take on anything. The team does have the foresight to recruit an experienced
tracker in the wild, James Conrad (Hiddleston), who should be able to get them
out of threatening situations.
Because the movie needs a woman, a wartime photographer, [cleverly
misleading name of Mason Weaver (Larson)] has applied and is given permission
to go along.
Of course, you know they encounter Kong, King
of Skull Island, now 328 feet tall, who snatches helicopters out of the air
like they were toys. But note that
this is after the “scientists” have dropped bombs into the terrain to ascertain
its makeup. Not only does this
bring out Kong, who is trying to protect his island, but other much more
sinister creatures.
Cinematography (Larry Fong) and special effects
are impressive, but scenes of fighting with the monsters go on far too long,
with too many characters rapidly flitting on and off the screen to keep track
of. Director Jordan
Vogt-Roberts and editor Richard Pearson could have easily trimmed the two-hour
production and/or focused on more character development. Back-stories of the main characters
would help us care more about them and understand their motivations for what they
do.
We do get that for John C. Reilly, a consummate
actor for oddball characters. His
story is interesting and (mostly) plausible, and the way he relates to the
native humans and animals is interesting as well as admirable. The roles of Samuel L. Jackson, Tom
Hiddleston, and Brie Larson are familiar and ones they do very well. Jackson is a hardheaded military man
with a black-and-white view of the world and people. Hiddleston is a quiet, modest hero with considerable
clout. Larson acts bravely and
speaks out for a feminine point of view in a testosterone-laden story.
If you never tire of the oft-repeated
King Kong story, then this one is for you.
Grade: C- By
Donna R. Copeland
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