Diary entries forKong: Skull Island
Kong: Skull Island
1975, a guerra do Vietnam acabou, os Estados Unidos perderam e voltam pra casa com aquele sentimento de perda até que uma expedição é montada para ilha da caveira, o motivo é provar a existência de monstros gigantes e criaturas que ninguém acredita serem reais. Em Kong temos uma sequência para o Monsterverse, porém diferente de Godzilla de 2014 esse filme do Kong conta uma história própria onde o gancho para sequências é algo a parte da trama principal. Aqui temos uma construção de mundo focada num cenário de guerra fria onde os Estados Unidos vive a questão de precisarem de provar como uma potência tanto quanto modelo de sociedade como ideologia. No meio disso temos a co-relação de soldados que acabaram de sair de uma guerra constituída em invadir o território desconhecido para impor sua ideologia dominante como provar ser maior que sua rival na guerra fria. Em Kong temos o oposto de Godzilla. Aqui o longa não esconde seu monstro, muito pelo contrário, o exibe com orgulho até em momentos de lazer. Mostrando que Kong é mais do que um monstro, e o contraste de humanos que invadem um território estrangeiro destruindo tudo porque querem apenas para provar um ponto é algo no mínimo interessante, simples e mal aproveitado, sim, mas ainda sim ele existe e é válido até. A parte artística e a filmografia é outro grande destaque. Aqui temos tons claros que ressaltam o visual tropical dando vida ao cenário. Afinal é uma ilha com criaturas vivas e isso é algo a se elogiar e as cenas de ação são outro destaque a parte que acrescentam ao todo. O longa possui uma identqre tão única que você claramente consegue distinguir ele de vários outros filmes de mostro gigante. No mais, Kong: A Ilha da Caveira é um filme de monstro gigante que se orgulha de ser isso e não sacrifica a presença de seu protagonista em prol de uma mensagem ou um tom de seriedade piegas. Muito pelo contrário, aqui temos a fusão desses elementos que somam ao todo e o contexto histórico ao qual ele pertence, apesar de não ser muito bem aproveitado, ele existe e traz um paralelo interessante e a ponte para sequências e um universo compartilhado são muito bem feitos. De longe o melhor filme dessa franquia, até agora.
Kong: Skull Island
There's a lot of fun dumb stuff on display here, and a lot of aggravating dumb stuff here too. The difference between me giving a 4/5 or a 1/5 here basically relied on the amount of John C Reilly (high), the amount of charming Brie Larson (very high) and the amount of cool Kong stuff (high). If any of those were even slightly lower, or the amount of Vietnam love on display (high) was even slightly higher, this would be my least favorite Kong film fairly easily.
Kong: Skull Island
Ah hell, up to my ears in Godzilla flicks, might as well take this adjoining glossy stroll through the folly of man. The Vietnam war is just an aesthetic exercise at this point, but hey Kong big punchy punch the bad man so everything's square I guess. Action here is pretty great, Reilly steals the show, and what do you know I'm actually looking forward to Kong and Zilla hugging it out.
Kong: Skull Island
Kong: Skull Island still is a film that manages to impress. Visually, this film is stunning, with some of the most vibrant and colorful scenery seen in 2017. The characters actually have some depth and manage to be interesting, even if there are a plethora of characters that come through. Even though the edits can be a little much to take in at times, this is an action film and it's known that there is a lot of editing and cuts that go into making the film successful. But what really stood out this watch was the relationship between nature and humans. Previously, I had only watched this film in theaters, so I didn't get to take the time and actually watch other aspects, rather than the general film. But one aspect that was interesting was seeing how people were depicted interacting with nature. There were some that were caring, such as Brie Larson's character, but other that seemed to have no care about what they were doing. Seeing this immediately drew my mind to the climate change debate, where one side acknowledges its existence, where another side is trying to dispute its existence. There are those who care, and those who do not care, both sides being clearly seen here in Kong: Skull Island. Whether this was intentional or not, my mind was immediately drawn to climate change and it made sense with the rest of the film. Kong: Skull Island surely isn't a perfect film, but it's a film that took a couple of risks and managed to be one of the best action films of the year. Maybe on my next viewing I will find something new.
Kong: Skull Island
Not as much fun as I recall it being when I first saw it in theaters, Kong: Skull Island still manages to be an entertaining action flick, even if there are pretty thin characters and some questionable editing. Godzilla: King of the Monsters, as much as I love it, has a problem with characterization, which this film similarly has a problem with - these people feel like they’ve been written, they don’t seem to have much motive and don’t have that gleam of humanity that can make them relatable. Of course, they easily fall into the plot of the film, but that’s what they seem to be there for; the plot and the plot alone. I still enjoyed myself, any monster action is fun monster action, so in the end I still was able to have fun with the film. It was nice being able to revisit it, since it’s the only depiction we have so far of Kong, which makes me even more excited to see what happens in Godzilla vs Kong in a few weeks.
Kong: Skull Island
King Kong is a cultural phenomenon. Even without having seen any of the films, you can ask a person about King Kong and the first thing that comes to mind is a giant ape scaling the Empire State Building, swatting away at airplanes. Even without having seen the film, King Kong still is a name that resonates with people. Peter Jackson attempted (and attempted very well in my opinion) to capture the essence of the original King Kong film, showing his love for the film. I grew up watching that version of Kong, and I was extremely excited to finally hear that he is back on screen and larger than ever. Upon hearing Kong: Skull Island getting decent reviews, I was a bit skeptical to go in, but once I was in the theater, that sense of familiarity and nostalgic feeling of my childhood fully came back (as well as some tears because of the trailers for Alien: Covenant and Blade Runner 2049 being played back to back). King Kong is back. While he may not be the best he's ever been, he's still bigger than ever. Size is something that really comes to mind with this film. The grand scheme of everything seems very broad and large, with the film having many things it has to tackle in its 2 hour run time. The film had to introduce the characters and try to give them a backstory, it had to introduce the natives, had to introduce Kong, had to introduce the many creatures that inhabit the island, had to resolve some characters issues (with some characters who you know are going to die from the beginning), and conclude with a huge battle scene between Kong and a creature. These have shown up in other films, so this was something I really was watching for in this film. Ultimately, goes through all of these like a checklist, each one of them showing up in the film. This does seem a little formulaic, but you have to think, this is a "typical" blockbuster, where there won't be many things done differently than other films. Still, the way that Kong: Skull Island is able to achieve these makes the film one fun film to watch. CGI usually is something that doesn't tend to bother me. There are times that I think that it is done spectacularly (like almost everything done in Mad Max: Fury Road) and there are times that it is done quite poorly (just gonna put the prequel Star Wars films, I understand it was the time that they came out, but the CGI shouldn't have been there in the first place). The opening for Kong: Skull Island opened in an interesting way, with some of the names being extremely hard to read, as well as a very interesting title card, as it hadn't been featured on any of the posters for the film. The start of the film had brilliant visuals, so I was already impressed by the film. As the opening sequence kept going on, I was thinking "Can this be? Could this be the Kong movie I've hoped this was going to be?" Now, this feeling seemed to go away instantly when Kong was introduced. The CGI seemed extremely out of place and wasn't the best quality. After the opening scene, I was left a little disappointed by what I was going to be sitting through. Luckily, the effects became much much better as the film progressed, coming to the point that I really didn't notice the CGI, I was just focused on what was going on. Getting lost in a film is something that I rarely do, but I really did get lost in Kong: Skull Island's great animation. With the great animation, I was surprised to see the cinematography for the film. There were so many shots throughout the entire film that left me breathless. The visuals for the entire film were impeccable, especially the scenes that heavily featured scenery. The scenes where there were fly-overs of the landscape left me in shock, since I wasn't thinking that there were going to be these fine of visuals for this "type" of big-budget film. The visuals toward the end of the film did seem to get a little murky, especially during the scenes that feature Kong and the fire. They just didn't seem to mix well and you could really see where the CGI was. But other than that, there really was nothing else that I could see that I didn't like about the film visually. As I've said before, just because a film looks nice doesn't mean that the film will automatically be good (see my review for Assassin's Creed (https://letterboxd.com/codypphoto/film/assassins-creed/)). The plot for Kong: Skull Island really is an interesting plot, with a lot going on, but there really isn't any depth to anything. I wasn't expecting something really grand when it came to how deep the film was, but I was hoping that they would hint at humanity's need for supremacy over all or something along those lines, since this is the perfect place to have that kind of social commentary. I kept a look out for something along those lines, and I really only saw it with a couple scenes, especially the Vietnam scenes in the beginning of the film. Granted, the plot was very interesting, but it did lack a depth that many other films are able to achieve. This is a blockbuster type of film, and those generally tend to lack the depth that many independent films have, but it would have been nice to at least see a little bit of that in this film. The characters themselves were interesting at times, but I really didn't find the connection. When watching films, I rarely actually pay attention to the backstory of a character unless it's really important to know about. I rarely watch a film and think if the characters are developed enough or they are underdeveloped. While watching this, I did pay much more attention to the characters than I usually do. Most of the characters ended up getting a basic backstory, but nothing much came after that. There were many characters that didn't even get a backstory, yet seemed to be central characters for the story. Having characters that you really know nothing about makes you lose a connection that is vital to the emotions you feel when they die. There were several times that minor characters were killed off and I was sad, but I really didn't feel anything because of their deaths. It woud have been nice to have all of the characters have a backstory, but really develop a backstory when it came to the main characters. Looking at the cast, this really was an amazing ensemble. There were so many big name people in it, as well as actors whose names I didn't recognize, but recognized them when they were on screen. As per usual, Brie Larson completely stole this film. She was the character I was the most attached to (not only because I love her as an actress, but because I have a connection with the character, as I am a photographer myself). Any time she was on screen the film seemed to be a much better film. Another surprise actor that was great was John C. Reilly. In part comic relief, he really seemed to pick up the the second half of the film. Once he was introduced into the film, it really started to become much more fun to watch. Reilly is an actor that I have a love/hate relationship with, as there are some roles that he has played that I really enjoyed, and there were some that I still can't stand watching to this day (Amos in Chicago happens to be my least favorite role of his). The other actors really did stand out, especially Samuel L. Jackson (but then again, when doesn't he stand out?), but Larson and Reilly seemed to be the stars of the film. I love going to the movies and having a good time. It's always so much fun to go sit in a dark room and experience a film. I love sitting through dramas, horror films, and action films, and Kong: Skull Island seemed to satisfy all of those for me. While the film isn't perfect, as I did have trouble connecting to the characters, it is still a film that is extremely fun to watch. It's been a while since I had genuine fun at the movies, and I had so much fun watching this film. King Kong has been a creature that I have always enjoyed watching, even though I have only seen one film with him in it until now. Creature features seem to be my guilty pleasure, and Kong: Skull Island fits right in with the rest of the creature features. It'll be interesting to see if Kong and Godzilla end up being on screen together, even though the two companies who own them split up after Godzilla's release. Hopefully we see these two giants battle on screen, as it may be an extremely fun film to watch. King Kong reminds me of my childhood in ways, and Kong: Skull Island managed to capture that same feeling and bring it to new light for me. I am genuinely excited to watch this film again when it comes out on blu ray, and getting to spend a little more time with the king of monsters.
Kong: Skull Island
kong você é muito querido pra mim
Kong: Skull Island
Still my favorite Monsterverse film. What a blast. Can’t wait for GxK!
Kong: Skull Island
Man, I wish they’d haves JVR direct some more Monsterverse stuff, this one is just such an absolute blast. So fun, so cool, so funny. Kong is, and always will be, my favorite kaiju. Would love to see him get another solo movie to shine.
Kong: Skull Island
Skull Island and its many curiosities. The inhabiting flesh of anomalous creatures, or monsters of such, discovered by man and greeted irrationally. While no-man land rages in a spit of fire and destruction, a new violence whimpers selfishly along the outskirts. In the wake of it, a king on his turf is greeted by the harshness of man. A great big-ball-of-fire-seduction act that just so happens to lure a tree-swinging monster the size of empire state. This is Warrior: Come out to Play, or Hell Hath No Fury Like a Scorned Gorilla: The Movie. Kong: Skull Island is 21st-century-big-budget nonsense entertainment; a mindless and ferocious blockbuster of sorts, stunted by rubber stamp characters and a lack of real inventiveness. It's stupid, but to the point where it merely has to be. This whole thing is stupidly grand. Think Apocalypse Now meets an explosion of a CGI fuck-fest with no real impact or significant meaning other than "man is bad but can still try to fuck shit up when it gets real". Lesson learned? Don't mess with a monkey's home. 3.2/5
