Kong : Skull Island. Don't go looking for depth, just go and enjoy it.

I loved monster films as a young lad. Loved em, couldn't get enough. Remember those god awful Doug McClure films - 'The Land That Time Forgot' etc, I was mesmerized by them. The Valley Of The Gwangi was another, Cowboys vs T-Rex's, hilariously bad and with a dinosaur made of mala, I ran home from school once to watch that one. The original King Kong too. Wowed me, the scene were Kong attacks the village was a jaw dropper for a young lad. They were just great fun. No one gave a fig about characterisation or a solid storyline, they knew the audience just wanted screeching monsters chowing down on screaming folks and that was it basically. They entertained you on a visceral level. If they were well made and acted as in original Kong it was a nice bonus.

Last week i watched Kong : Skull Island in the cinema and felt that way all over again. It's not going to win any awards by any stretch of the imagination but jesus I had great craic watching it. You can't beat a film that makes you feel llike you're 8 years old again. Plus happily it's also well made and acted and has managed to get in a nice few digs at US foreign policy into the bargain!

A quick synopsis. An uncharted Island is found in the South Pacific in the early 70's. America wants the Island for its resources ( sounds familiar doesn't it ) so sends a group of soldiers and scientists to explore it. Of course the Island is full of death and monsters and not just the ones in the poster for the film!

I mentioned characterisation earlier. This film does better on that front than the monster films of yore or even the Godzilla film from a couple of years ago. Not much though but the humans in the film are sketched out just enough to let you know who's who and maybe give a fuck when they inevitably get squashed or impaled or eaten. Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson and John C Reilly come out of this relatively well. Larson has some nice moments and actually looks like she's from the 70's. Samuel plays angry Samuel very well and John C Reilly has a couple of very funny moments and earns a lovely scene very late in the film.

Ok, lets not fool ourselves here, the main reason to see this film is gigantic monsters and we get them in spades. SPADES. Crunching, bruising, gooey, scary stuff. It's a 12 cert film so it's not gory or bloody and its still quite brutal in places. And one scene is definitely not for arachnophobics. I was freaked out tbh. 

It's a fantastic looking film too, full of lush landscapes and swooping epic helicopter shots. Skull Island itself is a very well realised place. Plus the soundtrack is great. Loved the use of Black Sabbath.

If you are the type of person who goes the cinema to analyse everything I'd give it a miss but if you want a slice of well made escapism I'd definitely recommend it.