KONG: SKULL ISLAND - March 10th - Reviews Solid

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Eric Paddon
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Re: KONG: SKULL ISLAND - March 10th - Reviews Solid

#16 Post by Eric Paddon »

I actually didn't mind the "Godzilla" film much. It was way better than Devlin/Emmerich which was the yardstick I was applying and count me among those who don't care for silly comic relief characters when to me films like this are more effective without them.

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AndyDursin
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Re: KONG: SKULL ISLAND - March 10th - Reviews Solid

#17 Post by AndyDursin »

I liked it too, but I did become frustrated by his continual "oh not yet, you've gotta wait a little while more!" approach to the Godzilla sequences. There's a fine line between not showing too much and toying with the audience, and for me, he ended up on the latter side.

That, and the general (literal) darkness and boring, one-note characters. Again, I know what you mean by dumb comic relief, but there's a line there between being "serious" and humorless and his approach, again, falls into the latter end. I also laughed outloud at Bryan Cranston's horrible performance as the main character's father. That was the case with ROGUE ONE also, which is filled with wholly unappealing, dour characters and also was the single darkest movie I had ever seen in theater in many sections...approached only by GODZILLA, which is so dark I literally cannot watch it during the daytime in my house!

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AndyDursin
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Re: KONG: SKULL ISLAND - March 10th - Reviews Solid

#18 Post by AndyDursin »

Solid 7/10 from me. A standard but well-executed monster romp with great FX and lots of action -- I'm certain this is more what they wanted out of GODZILLA and you'll see that in the next Godzilla film, which they've already promised is going to be populated with appearances by the likes of Rodan, Mothra, King Ghidora, etc. We will not be seeing a repeat of the Edwards approach.

I know MJ often complains about run times but this is one instance where the film felt like it was cut too tight and there wasn't enough room to develop any of the characters. Scenes seemed to be missing (no introductions between certain people, side characters just seem to show up) and you could've digitally removed Tom Hiddleston's character from the film to no ill effect. Who is he? What's his arc? Why is he there? Talk about cutting room floor, the guy serves almost no purpose -- and he's your top billed "lead"!

So I felt the movie had an "overpopulation" issue character-wise, and kind of like ROGUE ONE, you make no connection with them, much less remember any of their names. Brie Larson really is the "pretty photographer" -- I couldn't tell you what her name was or what she was doing there, outside of looking good.

And like most modern studio "tentpoles", emotion/"heart" is held to a minimum -- though it did try with the John C. Reilly character, to a degree, and ends up in a place that I didn't expect given the genre.

The film could've just used him (or recast with a more "serious" older actor), the Brie Larson character, one scientist and a few soldiers and been as effective story-wise, because Kong and the action sequences carry the rest of it. It didn't need the wide roster that it had, so either reduce the cast, or give the story more time to breathe.

Outside of that and a patently awful score by the reliably bad Henry Jackman, you've got an entertaining Kong movie where the Big Ape looks good and ILM's animation is superb.

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Monterey Jack
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Re: KONG: SKULL ISLAND - March 10th - Reviews Solid

#19 Post by Monterey Jack »

8/10

I liked this more than Andy, because pretty much all I wanted from this umpteenth iteration of Kong was to see the big guy messing up equally plus-sized beasties, and Skull Island made my inner twelve-year-old squee with delight. Yes, the characterizations are stock and thinly-drawn (although Brie Larson fills out a sweaty tank top as impressively as Bryce Dallas Howard did in Jurassic World :)), but that was hardly a deal-breaker in the era where the average "fun" blockbuster like The Lone Ranger or Batman V Superman is 150 dreary minutes long. I appreciated this film's humor, its bright, colorful visual palette, and rousing action sequences, and I hope this tone continues in the next Godzilla and the forthcoming showdown between the two cinematic titans. Yeah, the score sucked (despite advertising a "cosmic beam" in the end credits), and there's little to get emotionally involved in, but you want giant monsters smacking the crap out of each other? That alone makes this preferable to a trip to Candy Apple Island. :P

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AndyDursin
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Re: KONG: SKULL ISLAND - March 10th - Reviews Solid

#20 Post by AndyDursin »

More monsters and less actors would have been a better solution also. 8)

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AndyDursin
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Re: KONG: SKULL ISLAND - March 10th - Reviews Solid

#21 Post by AndyDursin »

I do agree completely on this angle... 8)

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