He's a God here.
Bill Randa (John Goodman) and Houston Brooks (Corey Hawkins) work for a a mysterious company and are heading a mission to a remote island in the south Pacific that has gone mostly unnoticed due to a storm that constantly surrounds it. All they have is satellite images and a hunch of what could be there. They meet up with with a group of soldiers that were just about to come home from the Vietnam war, Colonel Samuel L. Jackson, (Samuel L. Jackson) Mills, (Jason Mitchell) Cole, (Shea Whigham) Slivko (Thomas Mann) among others. A few scientists San, and Nieves (Tian Jing and John Oritiz) a photo journalist, Weaver (Brie Larson) and a British tracker Conrad (Tom Hiddleston) and set off for the island. There, they encounter Kong, and a lot more.
Monster movies tend to have bland characters and thus, you don't really care for them and only want to see carnage. That's half true for Kong. I did care about what happens to a few of them, like those played by John C. Reilly, Larson, Hawkins, Jing, Mitchelle and Mann. The rest range from red shirts to characters who's actions are solely plot conveniences. Jackson is playing himself, which isn't a bad thing. Samuel L. Jackson is pretty fucking cool, but his character's actions become frustrating. Tom Hiddleston is horribly miscast, he's supposed to be this badass tracker but he spends most of the film posing.
It's obvious the filmmakers were big fans of Apocalypse Now. We saw that in the posters, and there's shots that mirror what we saw there too, and it's beautiful. The cinematography and special effects in this film are really lovely.
It's your typical monster flick, I had fun with it. I cared about Kong, half the cast, and there was never a dull moment. There's also a scene after the credits that ties this film in with another we already saw, it's definitely worth sticking around for.
Recommended: Yes
Grade: B
Memorable quote: "They sound like birds, but they're fucking ants." - Hank Marlow (John C. Reilly)
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