Went to see
Kong: Skull Island with some friends today. I got to say, I was really not looking forward to the film. I knew that it was going to be the intro to yet another overly pointless, consumerist wet dream cinematic universe. It was a universe I had no interest to begin with. And from what I'd heard from Gendo's Papa (whose opinions line up with mine quite frequently), I figured the end result was going to be a really mediocre, appeal-to-the-lowest-common-denominator film that would only put some effort towards the script and little else like every other shitty tentpole cinematic universe 'film' such as
Jurassic World,
Ant-Man and
Rogue One.
I have never been so happy to have been proven wrong in all my life.
Skull Island is very much a film of style over substance, just to get that out of the way. The grand majority of the cast don't have traits beyond maybe 'lackadaisical' or 'naive' (though I do think a couple have more to them than you'd think, as I'll discuss in the spoilers section). There isn't anything that's going to challenge your perception on some aspect of life or a concept presented within the film. The script, by and large, can be ignored and you won't lose too much from it.
That said, it still manages to make for a damn good action film, mainly on the back of some really strong visuals. And I don't mean special effects; I mean in terms of the framing and composition of the shots. Somebody working on this film had a keen eye for angles and shots that stand out, long after everything else has been forgotten, and this results in several gorgeous shots that made me wince, smile with delight and generally want to go find the person behind these visuals and give them a handshake for a job well done.
There were a lot of short action scenes, but I preferred having them be short but sweet. It means you go from one situation to the next, and not have to sit through more than 5-10 minutes of mindless action (compared to most other films, which prefer to go for 10-20-30-until-I-want-to-die minutes). Also, some of these scenes are great. The decision to fight a daddy long legs in a clearing of bamboo shots is inspired, and made the battle so much more tense than if it were in some other random place. The fight against the lizard in the foggy graveyard - both scary and a cracking watch, especially with the turn it takes halfway through (you know the one I'm on about). And then there's Kong's introduction. DAMN.
I never thought I'd say this, but director Vogt-Roberts actually managed to create a live-action equivalent to the Unit-02 vs JSSDF fight from
End of Evangelion with this fight, and the end result is horrifyingly glorious. I won't say any more on this section besides that, because I feel this is something you've gotta see.
It's not a perfect film, of course. Like I said, most of the cast is pretty obvious and underdeveloped. The opening and ending scenes feel the most sloppy in terms of editing and frame composition. A couple of John C Reiley's scenes have a a tone dissonance from the rest of the film (though I have a soft spot for 'man out of time' characters like him, and I think there's some really good stuff with him). But, for me, it tried.
I hate films like
Jurassic World,
Ant-Man and
Rogue One because I feel like they don't try. These are films with massive studio infrastructures behind them; films that will make their money back merely by announcing their existence to the world; films that could afford to take risks and push everyone else to do the same. And they don't. These are incredibly mediocre, safe films that have nothing worth of interesting discussion apart from how they have nothing worth of interesting discussion (or, in
Jurassic World's case, deeply awful sexism).
Kong: Skull Island, on the other hand, tries. It tries to have strong visuals that use the medium of film to a purpose beyond filming an adequately written script. It tries to tell subtle stories with the few characters that have some potential. It tries to have several short action scenes, just so it can try out as many ideas as it can and not have any of them overstay their welcome. Whether or not it works will be a very subjective thing, but the fact that
Skull Island tries when it very easily couldn't have and still made as much money as it did; well, that makes me incredibly happy to have gone and seen it.
Thank you, director Jordan Vogt-Roberts. You tried to be more than what you were expected to do, and you did a good job of that in my mind. Best of luck with the
Metal Gear Solid movie.
Despite what Gendo's Papa said about Sam Jackson's character, Colonel Packard, I think he does get a character arc that does get resolved - just that it's one I feel you have to look out for. It's implied that Packard is not happy about having to pull out of Vietnam. He spends his introduction in his office, bitterly drinking booze as the hours fly by, and when questioned about losing the war, he refuses to believe that they lost the war. Then, when his crew arrives to an island that resembles parts of Vietnam and gets trashed by a giant monkey native to the island*, all of Packard's repressed frustration with Vietnam is unleashed into a desperate bid for revenge. Probably the biggest clue that he hasn't let things go is when one of the characters suggest pulling out, or something along those lines, and he shouts in a manner more angry and desperate than at any other time in the film "WE AREN'T GOING TO LOSE!". Packard cannot lose to Kong, because in his mind, that's basically the same as losing the Vietnam War. And in the end, as he tries to blow up Kong after being told by everyone not to and as Kong is trying to save them from the big lizard, we can see that he'll never let it go. For that mistake, he dies.
I think that makes a pretty good character arc, if you ask me.
*I'm aware of the racist connotations that come from comparing monkeys to the Vietnamese, but I feel like that's the point in this case. Packard sees Kong in the same way he saw the Vietnamese: a dangerous threat that must be extinguished. I do apologize in advance, however, if this still offends you.
Gendo'sPapa wrote:I hate to say it but I was really disappointed by KONG: SKULL ISLAND.
