Rated Greg’s Top 5 Man vs. Beast Movies
- Jaws
- Jurassic Park
- Rise of the Planet of the Apes
- King Kong (2005)
- Tremors
In last week’s Logan, I was delighted to see a big blockbuster in which it was clear the studio backers didn’t meddle too much with the auteur’s vision, given how unorthodox the film was. I can appreciate Logan even more this week after seeing Kong: Skull Island, which is about as orthodox as it gets in 2017. It’s so obvious that WB is trying to replicate the massive box office success of 2015’s Jurassic World here with this Kong reboot and it comes across as unbelievably shallow. Every choice involved with this movie just seems so blatantly geared towards generating revenue as opposed to telling an original story. They cast Tom Hiddleston, with all the swagger of an empty egg carton, to play Chris Pratt Lite and something tells me there was a special “studio note” regarding the size of Brie Larson’s tank top. Speaking of Larson, she’s way too good for this movie, as are John C Reilly, Sam Jackson, John Goodman, Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, and Shea Whigham (all things considered this is a pretty decent cast, Loki excluded).
Ok that may have been a little too harsh. It’s not like this is the worst movie ever. Skull Island is pretty to look at on the big screen and there are couple entertaining set pieces, but overall this can’t hold a candle to Peter Jackson’s King Kong from 2005. You’d think at the very least the big CGI ape would look better with a technology of twelve years later, but I wasn’t impressed (the recent Planet of the Apes series is much better at this). I also thought the musical choices were “a little too on point” if that makes sense. Obscure B-sides would be more effective than the same 70’s rock chart toppers you’ve heard in countless other movies that take place during the Vietnam War. Lazy Lazy Lazy. Grade: C
Rated Greg 