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03/23/2017 12:01 AMPG-13
Of all the incarnations of King Kong, the gorilla in Kong: Skull Island might be the grumpiest and most lethal of the fantasies since 1933. What is it about Kong that still rates another stab at his psyche and a higher level of special effects? It could simply be that the big ape remains strangely likable.
Skull Island delivers much of the same ingredients as the other films, with one or two exceptions. In this version, Kong is full-on vengeful from the get-go as protector of his domain. More important, Brie Larson (Avengers, Room), who plays the lone female with the male name of Mason Weaver, does not scream or run from Kong like Fay Wray (1933) or Jessica Lange (1976). She’s a war photographer during the Vietnam War, and looks Kong squarely in the eye when they encounter one another. Kong likes her defiance and still saves her later on, complete with her lying in the palm of his big, old hand like the old movies. Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts (The Kings of Summer, TV’s Single Dads) couldn’t resist that nod to past ventures.
A line-up of solid actors helps maintain the momentum of Skull Island. John Goodman (10 Cloverfield Lane, Love the Coopers) as Bill Randa heads up a mission to an uncharted island “where myth and science meet.” His colleague, Houston Brooks, a bespectacled Corey Hawkins (Straight Outta Compton, TV’s 24: Legacy), plays straight man to Goodman. Randa and Brooks receive a military escort, led by a surly Lieutenant Colonel Preston Packard, fiercely played by Samuel L. Jackson (The Hateful Eight, The Avengers), and with Weaver and others, they head off to the storm-surrounded, mysterious island. Monsters are there, of course, as well as a primitive culture that Kong protects from hungry, lizard-like creatures.
Another surprise awaits them. A World War II soldier, appearing in the film’s first scenes, has survived there, along with a now-deceased Japanese soldier who was shot down at the same time. Versatile working actor, John C. Reilly (The Little Hours, Chicago), does his part justice by being quirky as the bearded Hank Marlow, a 1940s character with a name to match.
Tom Hiddleston (TV’s The Night Manager, the Thor series) plays the hero, a perfectly-toned and pensive James Conrad, an ex-soldier known for his abilities surviving in the jungle. Hiddleston seems well-suited to underplaying, yet commanding the role of war-weary warrior. Conrad and Weaver don’t have much chance to form a liaison, but the steamy possibility exists.
1970s music constantly backs up Skull Island and mimics war films of the times, especially during the helicopter flights over the island. The tunes also sometimes out-voice the actors to supplement any lack of meaty dialogue.
Humor is jaggedly inserted and not hearty enough to become inherent in the story. Randa goes to Washington to convince a senator to fund his journey.
He says to Brooks, “Mark my words, there will never be a screwed up time in Washington.”
The joke flatlines, although the very day Randa goes to Washington is the day President Nixon resigns in 1973, and today’s Washington might also be considered tumultuous. One expects more laughs, but the film doesn’t offer enough.
Kong roars, tosses helicopters around, survives napalm and other attacks, and too-briefly reveals his gentle side. And, since the 1940s song, “We’ll Meet Again,” plays at the end, we know that Kong will return as the giant we expect and still want to humanize.
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