Return Of The King?
‘KONG: SKULL ISLAND’ TRAILER REVIEW BY METRO CREW
When a conspiracy theorist (John Goodman) catches wind of a primordial island, he enlists a team (including Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson and Tom Hiddleston) to check it out. What they find is an island ruled by giant monsters, including King Kong. While we can’t help but be a little disillusioned with the number of spinoff action flicks that have come out recently, we’re surprised to find that this one actually looks like it could be all right.
Kong: Skull Island opens in wide release March 10.
PAIGE: Given the glut of prequels, sequels and spinoffs in the market right now, I’ve become acutely aware that I have these wide gaps in my pop culture knowledge. I’ve never watched an Alien movie, I’ve only seen one out of seven Fast and the Furious movies, I’ve never watched any of the Planet of the Apes movies. And so, here we are, and I’ve also never seen a King Kong movie. So I don’t know what this is supposed to be at all. It feels to me like a stand-alone, “well, here we are on the island and, oh, hey, there’s Kong” movie. Or maybe it’s part of the Classic Film Monsters Cinematic Universe.
CHRISTINA: I also was a little confused as to what this was — is it supposed to fit into the storyline of other Kong movies? It kind of feels like it’s not, but I’m not sure. I wonder if this is going to be like other Kong movies where the girl gets kidnapped but she doesn’t really care because she forms a weird bond with him.
JAIMIE: The point of everything seems kind of confusing even though it does seem kind of like a fun movie? I did like the other Kong movie with Adrien Brody, but then I love him more. Still, I think I would watch this once it is streaming or playing on TV one night.
PAIGE: This was a great trailer because it made me feel like this movie was harkening back to the great Vietnam movies, like Apocalypse Now or Full Metal Jacket, with that mastery of dark absurdism, except that I know that this movie is in no way like those two classics at all. That awkward insertion of humor between John C. Reilly, Brie Larson and Tom Hiddleston totally shattered the mood of the trailer. This is going to be … mediocre.
JAIMIE: I keep forgetting that Tom Hiddleston is in this movie. Or that he does movies at all. Because now when I look at him, all I see is the man pretending to be Taylor Swift’s boyfriend for free press. But yes, once I got over that, he doesn’t seem that bad in the movie.
CHRISTINA: I actually appreciated that bit of humor. John C. Reilly’s character seems to exist for the sole purpose of comic relief, and even Tom Hiddleston seems to play the role with a little humor. The whole movie, in fact, seems to be pretty funny — at least in between explosive bits of action — so that’s kind of a different take on monster flicks. And every other movie I’ve seen Brie Larson in has been great. So maybe this movie has a chance, is what I am saying.
