It's unfortunate that the film has so many superfluous characters. Many characters have only a couple lines, and, as mentioned, several could have easily been combined and thus given greater depth. As it stands in final production, many of the characters are paper thin and wholly unnecessary for the expedition. It’s also odd that this movie is ostensibly a prequel designed to cross over into the Godzilla films that take place in the present day. So why did the executives decide to waste this ensemble A-List talent when they wouldn’t be able to utilize them in the next films? Perhaps this is why the cast was poorly characterized and developed? Unless, of course, the film intends to subscribe to the X-Men school of aging, where despite decades separating the sequels, the characters don’t age a day.

The difference between Skull Island and a film like Kingsman: The Golden Circle, which suffered from many of the same characterization problems, is that in addition to Skull Island being entertaining and engaging, it also manages to hold your interest despite its static cast. What Skull Island does well: its massive, epic, and glorious battles, results from the logical buildup and release of tension. On the other hand, Kingsman’s gratuitous action is compensation for the film’s lackluster, empty story, recycled plot elements, and poor character development. This resulted in a bloated, off-putting disarray despite what should have been an exciting and engaging sequel. Furthermore, Skull Island has an air of originality and its main plot thread is simple, despite its many subplots. The audience understands and cares about what’s happening, and more importantly, why: “Kong, good, evil skull monster, bad.” Skull Island is a mess, but its a novel one, and keeps its runtime down to two hours despite its disorganized script. Kong: Skull Island isn’t perfect, but it’s a monster movie done right and is leagues better than Godzilla (2014). As of December 9, 2017, Kong: Skull Island on HBO GO, give it a watch.

TLDR: Kong: Skull Island is a fun, adventurous romp that features excellent epic monster battles but suffers from an overabundance of subplots and underdeveloped characters. 3.5/5 Stars.

-Edited by Austin Toner