This is the second instalment in Legendary Pictures’ ‘MonsterVerse’ series of films.

I’ve watched three King Kong films, the 1933 original starring Fay Wray, the 1976 remake starring Jeff Bridges and Jessica Lange, and Peter Jackson’s 2005 film starring Naomi Watts, Adrien Brody and Jack Black. I’m partial to the original, was unimpressed with the second and enjoyed the spectacle of the third.

‘Kong: Skull Island’ doesn’t follow on chronologically from ‘Godzilla’ but takes us back to when Monarch, still operating secretly, is in serious financial trouble and needs the US government’s support to carry out investigations.

The film opens in the skies somewhere over the Pacific Ocean during World War II. Two damaged planes are hurtling towards the sea and the pilots bail out, both managing to land on an island.

One American, the other Japanese, both are totally focussed on taking each other out, using their guns and, in the case of the Japanese pilot, his sword. They pay no attention to their surroundings.

Until, on the edge of a sheer drop, they both freeze, eyes bulging as a pair of monstrous paws appear and they stare into the enormous eyes of a giant ape.

Fast forward to 1973 and the end of the Vietnam War…

Monarch researcher, William ‘Bill’ Randa, played by John Goodman, and seismologist Houston Brooks, played by Corey Hawkins, have managed to acquire government funding to lead an expedition to investigate a mysterious island in the Pacific called Skull Island.

Brooks is a proponent of the ‘Hollow Earth’ theory, having written a thesis arguing that there are enormous caverns hidden beneath the surface of the Earth, large enough for giant creatures to inhabit. This impressed Randa enough that he was responsible for Brooks joining Monarch.

Randa and Brooks hire retired British SAS officer, John Conrad, played by Tom Hiddleston, as a tracker. Disillusioned with his work in the SAS, Conrad only accepts freelance assignments when the odds aren’t stacked against him.

With his government funding, Randa also hires a military escort in the form of a helicopter squadron under the command of Lt. Colonel Preston Packard, played by Samuel L. Jackson. Although the war is over and his men are eagerly preparing to return home, Packard doesn’t believe America should leave Vietnam without a decisive victory. He’s loyal to his men but readily agrees to lead the mission, one last hurrah before his ‘family’ finally go their separate ways.

Lt. Col. Preston Packard (Samuel L. Jackson)

Packard isn’t impressed when he discovers a photojournalist, Mason Weaver, will be joining the team, for he blames people like her for the military losing the support of the people back in America.

Played by Brie Larson, Weaver joins the expedition only because she believes its actually a shady military operation and sees it as her job to expose such matters.

The expedition, a mix of scientists and soldiers, travel to Skull Island by ship.

Because there appears to be a constant storm raging around the island – one reason it’s remained unexplored – it’s too dangerous for the ship to navigate. The plan is for the helicopters to fly through the storm and land on the island for the team to carry out their surveys before returning to the ship after a few days.

As they fly over the island, music blaring from the helicopter speakers, seismic charges are dropped so Brooks can prove his ‘Hollow Earth’ theory when the data is gathered.

Believing this to be the easiest mission they’ve ever been on, nothing prepares the soldiers or any of the expedition members for what follows.

One of the things I love about this film – when Kong appears, he’s front and centre, leaving the characters in no doubt as to what they’re facing.

Setting Kong’s first appearance years before the events in the 2014 ‘Godzilla’ film, shows us a young Kong. He’s still growing and doing his best to protect his world, not only from this new threat of man and machine, but also the monstrous creatures that inhabit the island.

Not all the inhabitants are predators; there are gentler ones too. We see what look like deer and water buffalo, but they’re much larger than what we know.

The main horror that threatens Kong and all the creatures on the island… If you haven’t watched the film, I won’t say what they are or try to describe them. Suffice to say, the designers did a good job in coming up with something equally menacing and hideous.

I like the way this Kong is portrayed. He’s not a mindless monster; he’s intelligent, courageous and has compassion.

But when he attacks, the violence is primal and frightening.

One thing that’s easy to forget amidst all the action is that this Kong is still young. He’s not the ape that’s seen at the beginning of the film. When we see him again in modern times, he’ll have grown; he’ll be bigger and stronger.

Compared to the human characters in ‘Godzilla’, I feel there’s more to the characters in ‘Kong: Skull Island’. Not only are they battling against the creatures they encounter, they also have conflicts of interest with each other. And that includes the soldiers; as much as they admire Packard, they don’t blindly follow him. They obey him, but, as the film progresses, doubt and uncertainty start to creep in.

The visuals of this film are outstanding, from when the helicopters fly through the storm cloud to our first sight of the island from the air; to when Kong makes his appearance to the appearance of other creatures, gentle and dangerous…

The film’s score is done by Henry Jackman whose work includes ‘Captain America: Winter Soldier’, one of my favourite MCU films and soundtrack. The orchestral sound is enhanced with a 1970s feel; peppered throughout the film are songs by David Bowie, Jefferson Airplane and Creedence Clearwater Revival, to name a few.

Although part of the ‘MonsterVerse’, ‘Kong: Skull Island’ – a monster of an action film with a touch of ‘disaster movie’ – can also be viewed as a standalone film despite the hints at the end of the movie of what’s to come.

The human characters are compelling; even with the broadest brush strokes of back story for many of them, it isn’t difficult to care about their fate.

But, at the end of the day, the one I was rooting for the most was Kong himself as I did with the other Kong films; this version has become my favourite depiction of the giant ape.

[All images from ‘Gojipedia’]

Film Review - 'Kong: Skull Island'