A tale told numerous times and portrayed through movies for decades. Kong: Skull Island, brings a newer more dark approach to the king that is Kong.

After trying to watch the movie a few times and turning it off at 20 minutes, I was finally compelled by someone that we should watch it. So, after remembering my failed attempts previously, and assuming it was boring, I finally watched.

The movie starts off during the second world war, with two enemies winding up on an island after crashing. The characters, unaware, are encountered by Kong, and so the movie fast forwarded a few years and more people are on the way to the island. The cast is brilliant, and anyone a fan of Samuel L. Jackson will be impressed by his acting within, which was rather exaggerated. Also starring are the likes of John Goodman and Tom Hiddleston, backed by a great support cast. They are convinced upon arrival that Kong is some evil force to be destroyed, since he brought down their choppers. But as the movie progresses, some of them come to realise that Kong is just trying to survive, like they are.

The island itself is huge, and the scenery and atmosphere is creepy throughout, but the film has its strength in the ancient monsters that inhabit the land. This is what makes this film different, it isn’t just Kong that is the ‘monster’, but rather, the entire island. They come across as more evolved and smarter than most animals, and you would hope so otherwise it would quickly become a one way fight. There are giant squids, huge reptilian monsters, buffalo, 100ft spiders, flocks of bat like vultures and well disguised giant mantis! As a fan of the unusual monsters I enjoyed the fear and battles with each, and just how dangerous the island actually is.

Acting could be stronger and the film could have stayed away from having Kong battle a giant ancient reptile stuff, after all, Kong did battle with dinosaurs in the 2005 Jack Black version, which is also brilliant and a must watch. When comparing the two, Kong: Skull Island fails to explore the life of king Kong and the characters and focuses heavily on action and violence. King Kong (2005) instead uses both, and very well, it brings audience closer to caring about them rather than hoping for their deaths, which is what I did when I watched Skull Island.

I can’t really get over the monsters and exploration of Skull Island, but I can get over the cliche characters and typical story line. The film is worth watching if you enjoy a fantasy type action war movie.

This movie is worth:

Overall: 3/5