So I stuck with it and watched movie number 2. Kong: Skull Island while not tying back to Godzilla (2014) heavily (or more than like three lines of dialogue total), failed to grip me as much. It felt like a muddled mash up of your stereotypical Vietnam War story and fantastical creatures horror jig. Most the time I couldn’t understand if I was meant to care for any of the humans. By the time it got to like the 1:30:00 mark, I felt the true conflict arose: kill vs. defend Kong. Most curious question: is Mason Weaver meant to be an Ann Darrow counterpart?
My mind immediately wants to compare this to Peter Jackson’s King Kong remake. I am most with that story for my connection to Kong. I’m certain I’ve seen the original but can’t confirm. Sorry Brie, but I think Naomi Watts was a better Darrow.
EDIT: Kinda pissed me of the post-credit scene was exactly that: post credits. That part should have been a slightly bigger focus of the plot.
Ooh divisive!
I had a lot of fun with this one. It’s definitely light and breezy, but I connected with it in a way that I did not with Godzilla '14.
A big problem for me is maybe my recollection of the marketing, which mislead me to believe this was a new reimagining/remake when it was not. Other than the monster fights, not a lot visually made it feel like this was connected to the style of movie Godzilla achieved.
Yeah, it is very much not the “traditional” King Kong story, which I appreciated, having seen three different versions of that one already. And it definitely has a different tone from Godzilla '14.
Skull Island is actually my favourite of the Monsterverse movies. It really redeemed Kong as a character for me.
I saw Weaver as more representative of the British and American women photojournalists that broke the most important stories of the mid 20th century.
Clare Hollingsworth from the UK broke the start of the Second World War. Other American women played a similar role in Vietnam and Cambodia.
It seemed a smart and authentic way to include a woman in the mission, other than as a Monarch scientist who already knew that there exist Titans.
Choosing a blonde actor for the role may visually connect to previous Kong films but it also is accurate to the women photojournalists she’s representing.
As a side note, the two Monarch scientists who survived live on to be the parents of a character who appears in one of the subsequent movies. The Randas aren’t the only multigenerational Monarch researchers it seems.
I don’t even remember the post-credits scene. I haven’t watched it since I rented it shortly after it came out on DVD.
It is the only Monsterverse movie I’ve never rewatched. One and done.
It’s a scene which the two surviving Monarch scientists inform Conrad and Weaver about the existence of other creatures.
Ohhhhh yeah.
Maybe I’ll rewatch it this weekend. Or, start watching it, at least.
