centaur1 wrote:I realize it wasnt especially geared towards me at my age of 56,
I don't think it's an age thing, as I am only a couple years younger.
but as a lifelong fan of the King Kong movies
That is where the disconnect comes from.
It diluted the original King Kong character and storyline of him living on Skull island and being worshipped as a god, as the natives offering him sacrifices as they tried to survive across the giant wall.
As much as I love the original Kong, I was never really a big fan.
I always loved Godzilla more. And I love the whole sci-fi universe that came with it.
Aliens, other giant monsters, fantastical weapons and tech.
Which is why this movie works for me, and doesn't for a lot of others of our generation.
I am sure there are lots of other Kong fans that are not big on this movie.
And that is fine. Different strokes and all that.
Everyone has their own thing that they look for in movies. I just like being able to discuss those differences reasonably, and like adults.
Funny thing is, there are a lot of die-hard Godzilla fans that are complaining that there was too much focus on Kong in this movie, and not enough spotlight on Godzilla.
Which, I can see that also.
But I think that is more a result of this incarnation of Godzilla.
As much I like the design, it doesn't lend itself to being personable. It isn't like the 70's Godzilla that was so easy to anthropomorphize. It's hard to feel connected to this big brutal force of nature they have created for this incarnation of Godzilla.
Meanwhile Kong: Skull Island gave Kong so much personality, there is no way they couldn't use that for this film. You had to give the audience one of them to connect with, someone to root for. And Kong was a natural for that role. Especially when they added in his connection to the little girl.
That was just the icing on the cake for making him the protagonist and main character.