Kong: Skull Island [Blu-ray] [2017]

Very good movie love it definitely worth the watch

Although I think Peter Jackson's version of Kong a few years back had a lot going for it, especially in terms of scale and some of the cinematics on the island (including the dinosaurs giving Jurassic Park a run for its money), this new version is so much tighter and looks absolutely incredible on the big screen. The island is breath-taking and all of the wide screen landscapes really do look magnificent, as do all the special effects which are top notch - especially a lot of the various giant nasties Kong is up against which are also a marked improvement. Kong also looks much better I think - cinema has come a long way, but also he just seems much more realistic and has lost some of the goofy big friendly monkey aspects of his persona in the previous version, thankfully, along with the childish humour. He's a much grittier and much more impressive version. The action is great and the pacing is very good - the film never drags and each of the main human survivors trying to survive the island have just enough going for them as characters to keep your interest beyond the amazing landscapes and the spectacle of the huge creatures attacking them (and each other!). John Goodman who is partly responsible for kicking everything off is super, Brie Larson is also is very good, if underused, as an anti-war photographer who heads out with the exploration team and their army escort to document the island, Tom Hiddleston is OK as a mercenary tracker leading the good guys, though sometimes a little light and airy for such a role and Samuel Jackson is mostly OK as the colonel who heads up the army escort, but does start to feel a bit text-book colonel-turned-crazy in his performance as he becomes obsessed with destroying Kong. And John C Rielly who is found on the island having survived there for decades after crashing there during the war is superb - his character brings some great humour to the film and he carries it off effortlessly. Matching the film's setting of the early 70's is an awesome soundtrack throughout which is used really well and compliments the film nicely. Hopefully they stick with this version of Kong and revisit for a few more adventures!

Kong: Skull Island. Certificate: 12/PG-13 Genre: Action/Adventure. Running Time: 118 Minutes. Synopsis. A diverse team of scientists, soldiers & adventurers unite 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 against nature in a battle for survival, they must fight to escape a primal Eden in which humanity does not belong. Timelord Thoughts. Kong: Skull Island is a fun, entertaining action packed thrill ride that despite a few minor flaws with the human characterisations this movie packs a mean punch & sets the bar very high for future monster movie smackdowns. The year is 1973 & the plot sees Lieutenant Colonel Preston Packard aided by former Special Air Service Captain James Conrad who served in the Vietnam War with the Australian Special Air Service Regiment & Photographer Mason Weaver team up for a government assignment led by William Randa to investigate a unknown island before the Soviets learn of its whereabouts & beat them in discovering what the mystery of the island holds. What isn't told to the team is there's more to this mission than meets the eye & soon they come face to face with not only a variety of strange creatures but the islands baddest inhabitant, a 100ft Gorilla named Kong makes his first appearance by literally smashing helicopters out the sky the s##t has well & truly hit the fan. Jordan Vogt- Roberts direction is a spectacular effort who has skillfully directed plenty of tense action pack monster smackdowns against mutated spiders, blue-blooded pterodactyls & a giant saw- toothed Skullcrawler that are both thrilling & entertaining, the CGI animation is fantastic & Kong for the most part looks amazing. The movies pace is quick moving & gets on with the plot narratives, within 30 minutes Kong appears on Skull Island & causes all manner of destruction, the action set pieces deliver draw dropping mayhem & unlike the recent lacklustre Godzilla 2014 we we hardly seen the monster with Kong we get to witness plenty of monster mayhem on the screen & this movie never lets up until it's exciting post credit scene that teases of what's to come next... Kong Vs Godzilla? Sadly the human characters are poorly underwritten which shows in the actors performances, Samuel L.Jackson gives his usual cliche performance as Colonel Preston Packard a character similar in tone to Captain Ahab from Moby-Dick who's obsessed with killing Kong, Tom Hiddleson (my hair gets lighter as the movie progresses) is a little bland as tracker James Conrad but does the best he can with the material he's given which isn't a lot while Brie Larson is completely wasted & isn't given a lot to do in her role of anti-war photojournalist Mason Weaver apart from take pictures. The secondary characters fare even worse, Toby Kebbell as Jack Chapman, a United States Army major & Sea Stallion helicopter pilot who writes letters to his son is quickly killed after hinting & building up a arc to be a possible major character, but I knew as soon as Chapman began writing letters to his son he was not long for this world because he has something to live for so he definitely has to die, it's a shame as this character was quite likeable but in the end becomes the equivalent to a Star Trek: Original Series red shirt extra. John Goodman does well as scientific bureaucrat William Randa but sadly his role quickly became redundant when he arrives on the island, thankfully faring far better is John C. Reilly who scene steals with his performance as the eccentric Lieutenant Hank Marlow a former WWII pilot who's been stranded on Skull Island for 28 years & gone a bit mad & special praise must go to Terry Notary who gives a excellent motion capture performance & brings Kong to life making him a fully rounded character with heart & capable of showing emotion via expression. Overall Kong: Skull Island is a easy watch monster movie that's crammed full of intense action set pieces that truly pack a punch, however it forgoes character development which is sorely lacking & mostly leaves audiences not caring about these characters fates because there so badly underdeveloped, however if your after a high quality popcorn blockbuster flick then this film is definitely worth checking out.

This is absolutely brilliant.If you have any affection for any Kong film going back to the 1933 film you will probably love this as much as I did.Kong is bigger and better than ever as CGI has come on so much in the last few years.The movie is set in 1973 for plot purposes I suppose but in truth the plot and indeed the cast are a bit superfluous as this is all about the creatures.Kong is joined some nasty varmints.The worst of which are The Skullcrawlers which are some kind of crawling T-Rex.Anyway s scientific expedition go to the island to see if the creatures exist as the island is surrounded by constant storms so we are not sure.Of course once they get there man does what man does best.Buggers everything upwith the help of the military escort.As I said cast not important.I will say Tom Hiddleston is a little too effete as the ex SAS guide and Samuel L Jackson is pretty much himself as the over the top colonel in charge of the armed escort.Brie Larson is wasted in the token female role originally played by Fay Wray in the 1933 movie.This is about the fights and explosions and about Kong.You will believe he is reall.Kids will be amazed but beware that it is a little violent and there is some ripe language with one use of the F word.This is uttered by John C Rielley who comes out best in the cast as a soldier that's been trapped on the Island for 24 years and is a bit mad.There are some good extras for us geeks which include technical details of hoe the big guy was created and some deleted scenes.The picture quality is also crystal clear.

I

You like CGI??? Plenty excellent examples of it throughout this wonderful hotchpotch of a film. Full of action, cliches and pot holes (EG Kong is SO BIG he couldn't possibly hide anywhere. Also check the number of helicopters on the aircraft carrier, and then the number in flight!!!) I digress. No point in doing the plot. It is bonkers. The film is great, big, very noisy fun (the sountracke is excellent.) Good picture and subtitles, but poor extras if you lokk forward to them. Having watched "Death In Venice" the night before, this was quite a smack in the brainbox and eardrums. Highly recomended. Just park your serious side, and enjoy.

This is one of those situations where if I had reviewed this film straight after seeing it, I probably would have given it 4 stars but as time's gone on, I've found myself feeling more 'meh' about it that I did while I watched it. I'm a big fan of the original & Peter Jackson Kong films & liked the idea of refreshing him with a different story - particularly one which opened the door to sequels (be sure to check out the post-credits scene!). I think they actually had a very good idea & some very good actors but it somehow wasn't quite the sum of its parts - though it was still enjoyable. It was clear they were going for a Heart Of Darkness / Apocalypse Now with giant monsters approach, given the numerous references the movie is peppered with (although 2 characters being called Marlowe & Conrad is a big enough clue on its own). Maybe they could have pulled this off if there had been more character-driven sequences or perhaps it's just because darkness infecting humans is more relatable than it resulting in them fighting giant apes but either way it wasn't quite there. In particular, Samuel L. Jackson's characters' vendetta-taken-too-far was understandable to a point but somehow there wasn't enough on the table to make it convincing. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this film in a 'lots of monsters combined with the usual 'let's get out of here' stuff' kind of way. And their version of Kong (same design as the original film but much, much bigger) made him utterly majestic & godlike. It just doesn't have the same heart to it as the original story. I wish it had been more memorable but as it stands it's a renter, not a buyer.

Good film