Jon Harvey's Pocket Reviews

Initial Release:  June 17, 2017 (Germany) Director:  Greg McLean Screenplay:  James Gunn Box Office:  11.1 Million Budget:  5 Million Many people online have compared this film to  Battle Royale , a Japanese movie with a similar premise: a group of teens are carted off to an abandoned island where they are forced to kill each other, or everyone will die. What made  that  film effective was the characters and the grittiness of the cinematography. The characters were fleshed out, unique, and sympathetic. The violence was realistic and the drama was as well. Unfortunately,  The Belko Experiment  misses the mark by having a great premise, but a sub par execution. During an average work day, the eighty employees of Belko Industries, a government-ran non-profit company, are suddenly sealed in the isolated high-rise building. A voice suddenly appears on the intercom instructing them to kill a certain number of their co-w...

I have seen all the Hollywood King Kong movies, from the original 1933 classic, to the 1976 remake and the 2005 Peter Jackson remake. Every one of these films, including the new one, has the same theme; that man is the monster, not the giant gorilla. Yet, why do I like this one the best out of all of those listed above? Simple: it knows what it is and gets to the point. People pay admission for King Kong to see a giant gorilla destroying things, crushing people, and fighting other giant monsters. What the 1976 and 2005 remake get too bogged down in is spending too much screen time on the “romance” between Kong and the female lead. In the 1976 and 2005 remake, much of that is just the two staring at one another awkwardly. Rest assured, Kong: Skull Island is the Kong film we’ve always wanted, with a few minor setbacks. Bill Randa (John Goodman) is a monster chaser who convinces the government to fund his expedition (by telling them it’s for geological research) to an unchar...