Skull Island Review: Cranks Up the Giant Monster Action

Legendary is expanding their MonsterVerse with all sorts of new projects, but the most immediately intriguing was a new take on Kong: Skull Island in an animated series releasing with Netflix. Although Godzilla was the Titan that kicked off the MonsterVerse in full, Kong has been the biggest addition to the mix as there have been a number of different takes on the famous giant ape over the years. Legendary's version of the Titan introduced fans to an island full of monsters ruled over by a giant species of apes, and was set in the 1970s before eventually making the jump to the present day. 

Skull Island takes the initial idea introduced in Kong: Skull Island and drops two groups of humans onto an island full of deadly and varied kinds of monsters. All the while it builds up to the eventual full screen debut of Kong. What's different here, however, is that no one involved was in any real way ready for what they would find. Skull Island then makes sure to satisfy all the expectations fans would have of such a premise and offers up cool looking monsters, and even cooler looking monster action.

Skull Island follows two different groups that end up on the titular monster filled island for completely different reasons. The first is a group of mercenaries that are seemingly on the hunt for a runaway girl named Annie (voiced by Mae Whitman) who is seen escaping from their ship at the start of the series. The second is a sea exploring crew in search of some mysterious island with a young kid named Charlie (Nicolas Cantu) who just wants to do his own thing outside of the shadow of his father, Cap (Benjamin Bratt). After finding Annie in the middle of the ocean and saving her from a mercenary chasing her, Charlie and Cap's ship is brought down by a sea monster. 

When Charlie and his friend Mike (Darren Barnet) escape the sea and finally realize what's happened, they've arrived on the titular Skull Island. From there the series follows Charlie and Mike, and the group of mercenaries led by Irene (Betty Gilpin), as they try and survive the monstrous environment around them. Fans hoping to see more of the Skull Island previously introduced by Legendary's MonsterVerse will be happy to know that the environment here is full of unique monster designs with more elaborate abilities and dangers the longer the episodes roll on. 

The artists at Powerhouse Animation Studios have made waves with the action scenes offered in adult animated series in the past such as Castlevania, Masters of the Universe: Revelation, Blood of Zeus, and more. But rather than the usual hand-to-hand combat seen in those previous efforts, Skull Island has action on a literally grander scale in terms of its offerings. Action scenes are dictated by the environment rather than brought about by a characters' actions as the humans are often reacting to the otherworldly threats they find themselves needing to survive from.

There's a pretty neat river chase scene quite early on, for example, that sees Charlie and Mike trying to escape from a dinosaur sized alligator monster. It's thrilling and tense as viewers are thrown right into the river with them all the while the alligator is trying to chomp away at every chance it gets. Then the sequence twists the knife as the chase continues in such a way, that it offers such a fun, yet hopeless kind of gut punch for the characters that you can really only get when dealing with an otherworldly horror monster. 

Caring about each of these characters is important when the focus of the series in on their survival, but that's a bit of a mixed bag with this cast. Some of the connections between characters are explored more as the episodes continue, such as with Charlie and his father, and many of the faces seen in the series don't unfortunately get to expand beyond their role as fodder. The main cast is all well performed, and each of their personalities is solid enough for Skull Island's monster island exploration story, but not all of the more poignant emotional moments it attempts land. 

Thankfully, Skull Island is strongest where it really counts at the end of the day. When Kong finally joins the fray in full, there's time spent exploring the more emotional side of the Titan. It helps to emphasize what makes Kong such a compelling protagonist in the first place despite not being a traditional human character, and Skull Island helps to really hammer home the heartbreak and bittersweet nature of Kong's role as king of this island. Plus when Kong fully joins the series, those explosive fight scenes return and each of Kong's fights are incredibly satisfying for those who just want to see the giant monster fights get brutal. 

Skull Island takes its time to explore each of the characters while they deal with an increasingly aggressive environment around them. If there's one real issue with the series, it's that this development isn't extended enough to Kong himself. His shadow looms large over the series, and it's outright incredible when Kong is doing his thing, but it's over right when things are getting truly explosive and fun. 

Kong's character and his place in Skull Island is truly fascinating, but it might be the nature of this spin-off limiting Kong to the future MonsterVerse releases where we'll get to see much more. It makes for some compelling material when everything Skull Island has been building towards starts clicking into place, but it admittedly feels like that stuff is over right when it's truly beginning. Kong mileage may vary, ultimately, but Skull Island still has plenty to offer for those who want to explore further. 

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Skull Island is now streaming on Netflix.