There are plenty of other soldiers joining them in the pack of helicopters journeying to Skull Island, but they exist only to give King Kong some bodies to mercilessly throw around. As soon as the choppers fly in to Skull Island, they drop bombs as a way to help map the island seismographically, but all that does is piss off the islands chief resident, the massive ape known as King Kong. Dvd Movie Feast Of LoveBrought to life with stunning visual effects and a motion capture performance provided by Dawn of the Planet of the Apes actors Terry Notary and Kebbell, Kong has never been bigger or more intimidating than in this movie. He towers on the island, acting more like a warrior protecting his land than an animal acting on primitive instincts. This unit doesnt stand a chance as Kong viciously and delightfully tears through every single helicopter, ripping them in half, tossing one chopper into another, creating beautiful fireballs that light up the sky. From this opening sequence alone, it becomes clear that not only will the action shine, but the visuals that present it will elevate it to another level. The way the camera sweeps around Kong in his attacks puts the audience right in the thick of everything. But its not just sweeping Michael Bay camera moves used over and over again, because there are some stunning, creative visuals here too. That shot of Kong from the trailer where he smashes a helicopter to the ground, creating a burst of flames around him as he gazes into the eyes of Samuel L. Jacksons Lieutenant Colonel Packard, is gorgeous on the big screen especially IMAX 3. D, and its far from the only breathtaking shot. There are also nice little touches throughout the picture, such as a quick shot of a Richard Nixon bobblehead on the dashboard of a helicopter, which gets a fantastic callback when that same chopper crashes. Throughout the movie, were treated to a smorgasbord of beautiful camerawork that only makes the adventure more engaging. Cinematographer Larry Fong, who traditionally works with Zack Snyder, gets to stretch his legs beyond creating the fantastical motion paintings from movies like 3. Watchmen and Batman v Superman. Instead theres a more genuine touch to his work this time. Because as big and stylish as Kong Skull Island is, everything is also extremely grounded, or at least as grounded as they can be on an island full of monsters. Speaking of which, the monsters of Kong Skull Island are more dreadful and frightening than any other creatures the big screen has seen in at least a decade. They are ruthless, bloodthirsty and some of the gruesome kills they pull off are surprising to see in a PG 1. Just when you feel comfortable after a narrow escape, another damn monster comes along to kill someone else in the group. Bodies fly, blood splatters, and Kong is the King that tries to keep them all in check, as the protector of an ancient civilization that lives on the island, who also happen to have a stowaway with them. John C. Reilly has only been glimpsed briefly in the trailers for Kong Skull Island, interjecting jokes, but his character, who has been stranded on the island since his plane crashed there during World War II, runs away with the entire movie. Reilly is comic relief most of the time, sure, but not in a way thats overbearing or stupid. The Boy Who Wanted To Be A Lion Ipod Movie here. Beyond that, he has plenty of purpose, a real story to be told, and ends up being quite the hero in his own right. Reilly has an amazing gift of bringing natural comedy to the action adventure proceedings, and his backstory makes you care about him more than anyone else in the movie. The performance has heart, humor and you just might be surprised by how much you love his character. Meanwhile, if theres one shortcoming in Kong Skull Island, its that it has such a big ensemble cast, and we dont get to spend enough much time with all of them. But each cast member gets at least one scene to shine. Actors like Kebbell dont entirely get their due, but having performers of that caliber in smaller roles also adds some weight to the proceedings. It makes the continued death have a little more weight than it would if these roles were played by unrecognizable actors. If youre not expecting a character to die because theyre played by a known actor, think again. At the same time, if youre thinking Hiddleston is the star of the movie, its not even close. Hiddleston honestly isnt given much to do until one purely cool action sequence comes along. Otherwise, his character feels like it could have been beefed up a bit. On the other hand, Larson does a great job with the screentime shes given. Shes as close as we get to giving Kong the beauty that the ape traditionally becomes obsessed with in previous incarnations of the monster. But this time, his motivation isnt just because he thinks shes beautiful, and its elements like that which give this take on Kong more layers and complexity than hes been given before. Overall, Kong Skull Island is one gnarly monster movie that doesnt hide the monsters in the darkness or create tension by having them lurk in the background. Instead, it puts monsters front and center in the spotlight, and they come through with shining colors. Kong has never been more thrilling, and his nasty opponents make for such compelling monster fights that youll be even more disappointed in the fact that we didnt get to see Godzilla do this much in his own return in 2. Charged with a 1. Kong Skull Island also never loses steam.