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Kong: Skull Island Review thread

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dcelw540

Junior Member
Metacritic: 62% (9 Positive, 7 Mixed, 1 Negative)
http://www.metacritic.com/movie/kong-skull-island


Rotten Tomatoes: 83% (33 Fresh/ 7 Rotten)
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kong_skull_island/


Empire:
http://www.empireonline.com/movies/kong-skull-island/review/
King Kong lives! But only just. This is an uneven adventure that's saved by the spectacle of its towering title character and the various beasts with whom he shares his island home.

The Hollywood Reporter:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/kong-skull-island-review-982156
Mix King Kong with The Lost World, spike it with a bracing dash of Apocalypse Now and you've got Kong: Skull Island, in which Warner Bros. finally gets the effects-driven fantasy adventure formula right again after numerous misfires.

The Playlist:
http://theplaylist.net/kong-skull-island-tom-hiddleston-brie-larson-samuel-l-jackson-entertaining-monster-mash-review-20170302/
It's into this arena that ”Kong: Skull Island" enters, with lofty ambitions and style to spare. Whether or not it completely succeeds is open for subjective debate, but damn if it isn't a hell of a ride.

The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/mar/02/kong-skull-island-tom-hiddleston-review-only-de-evolution-can-explain-this-zestless-mashup
This fantastically muddled and exasperatingly dull quasi-update of the King Kong story looks like a zestless mashup of Jurassic Park, Apocalypse Now and a few exotic visual borrowings from Miss Saigon.

Variety:
http://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/kong-skull-island-review-1202000823/
The surprise is that ”Skull Island" isn't just ten times as good as ”Jurassic World"; it's a rousing and smartly crafted primordial-beastie spectacular. The entire film takes place on Kong's jungle island home (he doesn't scale any skyscrapers — in New York or Dubai), and you could say that it's more action-based and less ambitious than either of the ”King Kong" remakes.

Indiewire:
http://www.indiewire.com/2017/03/kong-skull-island-review-brie-larson-tom-hiddleston-1201789108/
”Kong: Skull Island" puts that question to the test, and the outcome falls somewhere in between those two earlier efforts. A visually striking reworking of the ”Kong" premise that never sets foot in New York City, its grand scale does justice to the ape's towering presence but falls short of giving his world renewed appeal.

Chris Stuckman:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpobIc31M0U&t=0s
C-

Collider:
http://collider.com/kong-skull-island-review/#tom-hiddleston
Ultimately, the focus on CGI monster attacks pushes the characters too far into the corners of the story. And Kong's alone time only features monster battles, so there's no extra heft afforded to the King.

tumblr_ngaoc3unjj1qaqx8xo1_500.gif

I'll be adding it in as we go!
 

Theorry

Member
http://www.polygon.com/2017/3/2/14782556/kong-skull-island-review

Kong: Skull Island gets what so many monster movies before it get wrong: There is humanity in the creatures, even if they can seem gigantic and monstrous at first. Vogt-Roberts understands what type of movie he's trying to create, and succeeds in pulling that off. Despite Skull Island being riddled with flaws, it's pretty hard not to have a smile on your face when Kong is on screen.

It's hard to do a monster movie in the vein of Godzilla or Gamera, and while Kong: Skull Island isn't a groundbreaking movie, it is a wicked homage to the monster movies of decades past.

Kong: Skull Island seems to thrive on its ridiculousness. Almost every corner of the movie feels exaggerated, from the acting to the cinematography. It's a surreal experience, one that almost feels like a fever dream, but that doesn't take away from director Jordan Vogt-Roberts skills. It's Vogt-Roberts' use of slowed down sequences and different framing that makes the monsters feel as petrifying as they do. Skull Island may be a silly movie, but that doesn't mean it's a bad movie.
 

DMczaf

Member
What's up with the reviewer at Time Out?

You still hope for that classic psychosexual tension between woman and ape; it's a disappointment that Larson only rides the hairy paw once-and she hardly seems in thrall of the experience.
 

-Plasma Reus-

Service guarantees member status
Opted to read this. His chief beefs are too much Kong and Tom Hiddleston being bad (and the reviewer apologizing for him). Interesting that Kebbell plays Kong and a human character; he's good as Koba in Dawn of ... Apes.

Definitely sounding like a dumb fun movie.

Dude is the new Serkis.
I can't wait until he finally gets cast in a DC movie.
Or better yet, have him in that upcoming MGS movie. The man is a great actor.
 

DeathoftheEndless

Crashing this plane... with no survivors!
Looking forward to the box office results for this. I think it'll need a big opening weekend because it'll get bodied by Beauty and the Beast in its second week.
 

B33

Banned
Opted to read this. His chief beefs are too much Kong and Tom Hiddleston being bad (and the reviewer apologizing for him). Interesting that Kebbell plays Kong and a human character; he's good as Koba in Dawn of ... Apes.

Definitely sounding like a dumb fun movie.
Toby Kebbell didn't play Kong in Kong: Skull Island.

Kong was played by Terry Notary.
 
Dude is the new Serkis.
I can't wait until he finally gets cast in a DC movie.
Or better yet, have him in that upcoming MGS movie. The man is a great actor.

Agreed. Kind of a shame that his prominent non-CG roles are in unfortunate movies like Fantastic Four and Ben-Hur.

Toby Kebbell didn't play Kong in Kong: Skull Island.

Kong was played by Terry Notary.

My mistake for going off the reviewer, who writes,

Kong himself is played in motion capture by that very interesting British actor Toby Kebbell who also plays Preston's trusted subordinate Maj Jack Chapman.

But just double checked and he's listed as Kong in Skull Island, along with Terry Notary. Strange.

edit: looking into it a bit further, Kebbell assisted on facial work for the character. Notary is the main actor for Kong.
 
If the Kong on Monster action is decent I may rent it.

If you had told me 5 years ago that Logan would've been rated better than Kong: Skull Island I might have doubted you.
 
If the Kong on Monster action is decent I may rent it.

If you had told me 5 years ago that Logan would've been rated better than Kong: Skull Island I might have doubted you.

Why? >.> Even immediately after Origins I wouldn't have thought that shocking, and that's not a dig on Kong.
 

JdFoX187

Banned
Really liking the reviews and BronsonLee's impressions. This was my most anticipated movie of the year, so I'm glad to see it's doing well, so far. I just hope this translates into decent returns at the box office so that my Monsterverse can live on.
 

KingSlime

Member
Saw an advanced screening of this last night and I really liked it. Fun action, and John C Reilly steals the show. Stick around for the post-credits scene.
 

B33

Banned
My mistake for going off the reviewer, who writes,



But just double checked and he's listed as Kong in Skull Island, along with Terry Notary. Strange.

edit: looking into it a bit further, Kebbell assisted on facial work for the character. Notary is the main actor for Kong.
Fair enough.

I based my information off of an interview with the film's director.
 
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