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2* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: See [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation/MonsterVerse here]].
3* AngstWhatAngst: Even for a seasoned (anti)-war reporter who's probably seen a lot of horrors, Weaver takes what happens on Skull Island remarkably in stride. Her first encounters with Kong and various other titanic monsters appear to elicit barely more than a few seconds of alarm before she recovers and acts like she goes through something like that twice a day every day. It takes about two thirds of the movie until she finally begins to show fear and terror roughly comparable to what her companions have been experiencing from the get-go. In fact, a considerable portion of the civilians react similarly, contrary to the equally seasoned soldiers who freak out almost immediately when Kong shows up the first time. (it's even twice lampshaded how people are [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight not reacting properly to giant killing monsters]])
4* SugarWiki/AwesomeArt: [[https://www.slashfilm.com/wp/wp-content/images/kong-skull-island-japanese-poster.jpg The Japanese poster]] for the movie.[[note]]The tagline at the top says "On this island, we are the weakest."[[/note]] [[http://cdn1-www.comingsoon.net/assets/uploads/gallery/kong-skull-island/c3mtrhrwyaaz8yx-jpg-large.jpg The IMAX poster]] that like the movie is an ''Film/ApocalypseNow'' homage also counts.
5* BigLippedAlligatorMoment:
6** Kong '''''eating''''' one of the soldiers who falls from the helicopter.
7** The Mire Squid scene mostly comes off as a random slice-of-life scene of Kong having lunch.
8** And of course, the "giant ants".
9---> '''Marlow:''' Sounds like a bird, but it's a fuckin' ant.
10* CommonKnowledge: Many fans give the biggest Skullcrawler the name "Ramarak", but it is never referred to by name in the film, outside of just being called "the big one", while in the novelization and some concept art it's referred to as the Skull Devil. Legendary did copyright the name, but it has never actually been used in any official media.
11* CrazyIsCool: Marlow, particularly when he goes full ActionHero in the climactic battle. He's a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} CoolOldGuy AcePilot who lives alone in the middle of the South Pacific with a village of island natives, and gets his kicks by ''battling swarms of pterodactyls with a sword''.
12* EnsembleDarkhorse:
13** Marlow takes a while to show up after the prologue is rather popular for a human character in a monster movie, due to providing some much-needed levity, having a sympathetic backstory, and managing to be MrExposition ''without'' getting too long-winded or boring. He also has a tendency to {{Lampshade}} his IgnoredExpert status.
14--->'''Marlow:''' I've been on this island 28 years, what do I know?
15** Chapman has fewer scenes than most of the named soldiers but is well-liked by many audiences thanks to being a competent, loyal, and friendly NumberTwo to Major Packard and surviving on his own for an impressively long time. [[spoiler: Many people were genuinely saddened when he didn't make it.]]
16** Tertiary soldier Cole has his fans for his CloudCuckooLander nature, combat skills and HiddenDepths in questioning the fight they're picking.
17* FanNickname:
18** Like many other post-2016 works that involve apes, many took to calling Kong "Harambe" after the [[MemeticMutation memetic]] gorilla.
19** ''[[VideoGame/GodOfWar Kong of War]]'', for when Kong uses the ship propellor on a chain in a way very similar to how Kratos utilizes his signature weapon.
20** "Ramarak" isn't the canon name of the alpha Skullcrawler (as noted under WhatCouldHaveBeen), but fans have taken to calling it as such regardless.
21* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff:
22** Even before release the movie generated a ton of buzz among Vietnamese citizens and those of Vietnamese descent worldwide due to being a rare mainstream movie filmed largely in UsefulNotes/{{Vietnam}} (Ha Long Bay, specifically) and set during UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar.
23** The film was enormously popular in China as well. By the time the movie ended its run over there, the movie's box office total just about matched what the film made in the United States, which is something that's pretty unheard of.
24* HarsherInHindsight: Bill Randa has Packard's men go to Skull Island to bring evidence of their existence, then send in the cavalry. As in "bring in an army to ''kill'' the monsters on Skull Island". [[Series/MonarchLegacyOfMonsters Two decades ago]], he was awed at the sight of the Ion Dragon and Godzilla, and was working with his best friend Lee Shaw and his wife Keiko Randa. But he loses his wife in the Kazakhstan nuclear power plant, and his best friend in a botched mission [[spoiler:in Hollow Earth]], and has a strained relationship with his stepson Hiroshi, explaining why he went from being enamored by Titans to now wanting them dead. And the sad irony of it all is that [[spoiler:his best friend was thrust forward in time to 1983, and his wife actually survived her encounter with the Endoswarmers, who hasn't aged a day since 1959, and he dies an UndignifiedDeath in this film]].
25* HilariousInHindsight:
26** Creator/TerryNotary and Toby Kebbell previously worked on ''Film/RiseOfThePlanetOfTheApes'' and ''Film/DawnOfThePlanetOfTheApes'', with Notary providing motion capture work for Bright Eyes in the former and Rocket in the latter, and Kebbell playing Koba in the latter. Here... let's just say they're both playing a much ''bigger'' ape.
27*** In ''Rise'' and ''Dawn'', Notary's character becomes the most trusted second-in-command of Caesar, played by Serkis. This effectively means that the Notary Kong is the NumberTwo to the Serkis Kong.
28** In ''Dawn of the Planet of the Apes'', Kebbell's character wanted to replace Creator/AndySerkis' character in the position he held. A few years later, Kebbell is now partly playing Kong (a character previously played by Andy Serkis). Incidentally, Kong will go up against Godzilla in ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'', another role [[Film/Godzilla2014 previously played]] by Serkis.
29** The [[Film/KingKong1976 last time]] Kong dealt with attack helicopters in the 1970's, [[{{Gorn}} it didn't exactly end well for him]]. If the first trailer is any indication, Kong is now big enough that helicopters will, if anything, be nothing more than a nuisance,
30** In ''Film/RiseOfThePlanetOfTheApes'', we see a regular-sized gorilla taking out a helicopter. Here, we see a much bigger one doing the same.
31** Many fans jokingly compared Kong to Kratos of ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' when he uses boat propellers on chains against Ramarak/Skull Devil. However, the resemblance becomes even stronger in later films, with him growing a beard and wielding a battle axe in ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'', and him getting a tagalong child a la Atreus in ''Film/GodzillaXKongTheNewEmpire'' in the form of Suko the "Mini-Kong". Not to mention that film's villain, the Skar King, whose red tattoos, bald head and blade-on-a-whip weapon are also quite Kratos-like.
32** [[https://ru-noe.tumblr.com/post/153713589110/king-kong-grrrrr-fury-go-captain-marvel A fan artist]] made the observation that ''Skull Island'' has [[Creator/SamuelLJackson Nick Fury]] meeting [[Creator/BrieLarson Carol Danvers]] ahead of ''Film/{{Captain Marvel|2019}}''.
33** Meta Example- It's said that the reason Warner Bros. distributed this film instead of Universal is because Universal were not fans of a shared universe between Kong and Godzilla and believed the film [[ItWillNeverCatchOn would fail]] because of it. Yet Universal started and [[ThisIsGoingToBeHuge overhyped]] another monster shared universe known as the "Film/DarkUniverse," starting with ''Film/TheMummy2017'' reboot; not only that, but ''Film/TheMummy2017'' was such a critical and commercial flop that it [[StillbornFranchise killed]] the "Film/DarkUniverse."
34** Weaver, armed with a flare gun against Ramarak, decides to [[Film/TheGreatWall aim for the eye.]] Maybe Jing Tian taught her a thing about fighting monsters?
35** John Goodman saying that "monsters exist" is hilarious for those who remember that he himself [[WesternAnimation/MonstersInc has played a monster before.]]
36** In the infamous TV Edit of ''Film/SnakesOnAPlane'', Samuel L. Jackson's character loudly shouts "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4t6zNZ-b0A I have had it with these monkey-fighting snakes!]]". The skullcrawlers aren't quite snakes and Kong isn't exactly a monkey, but they are close enough to label the former "Monkey-Fighting Snakes".
37** One year after the release of this film, Creator/SamuelLJackson would star in [[Film/AvengersInfinityWar another movie]] [[spoiler:as a character who gets killed before he finishes saying "motherfucker"]] just like Packard.
38*** [[spoiler: Even better, despite being antagonistic towards Creator/BrieLarson throughout ''Skull Island'', at the end of ''Infinity War'', [[Film/CaptainMarvel2019 he's basically begging for her help.]] ]]
39** John Goodman's character claims near the beginning that "there'll never be a more screwed up time in Washington." Yeah, [[Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019 just wait until King Ghidorah swoops in]]. Also Randa's ArbitrarySkepticism about aliens? Yeah, this Ghidorah retains his Showa and ''Film/RebirthOfMothra3'' origins as an alien.
40** As of ''Film/GodzillaXKongTheNewEmpire'', Kong, who as of this movie was the biggest King Kong yet, is now ''hilariously tiny'' in comparison. He's about the same height as Suko, the ''baby'' Mini-Kong from that film! Kong wasn't even a teenager in the 70s: he was a ''toddler!''
41* JustHereForGodzilla:
42** Some people obviously watch the movie just to see Kong fight monsters and the army.
43** People who don't care about Kong but watch the movie just to see any easter eggs hinting towards the greater Film/MonsterVerse and the potential crossover with Godzilla (making it a literal example of the trope).
44** Then there people who don't care about either Godzilla or Kong but instead want to see Creator/TomHiddleston, Creator/SamuelLJackson, and Creator/BrieLarson sharing the screen together ahead of ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar''.
45* MagnificentBastard: See [[YMMV/MonsterVerse here]] for [[Characters/MonsterVerseKingKong Kong]].
46* MemeticMutation: Twitter apparently caught wind of Cole's SenselessSacrifice and it went viral as someone had posted the clip, ''but without the context.'' So people had no idea what movie it was when they see this random soldier walking towards the Big One and then being unceremoniously smacked into a hill and then exploding without knowing that this was from Kong: Skull Island. What's even funnier is that one of the clips that went viral didn't include Cole taking the grenades off his chest and holding onto them as he walks up to the Skullcrawler, causing some people to think ''he just spontaneously explodes when he hits the hillside.''
47* MorePopularSpinOff: In some international regions, the film financially outperformed ''Film/{{Godzilla|2014}}'' -- the most of which is China, in which its box office total surpassed Godzilla's box office run in just '''5 days'''. The final box office total made the movie the most successful Creator/WarnerBrothers film ever released in China.
48* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound: In TheStinger: [[spoiler:Godzilla's roar]].
49* {{Narm}}:
50** Some of the film's {{Contrived Coincidence}}s break the willing suspension of disbelief at best, and are laughably absurd at worst. [[spoiler:Probably the most glaring example is the Skullcrawler just happening to cough up Chapman's skull right in front of Conrad. Already pretty ridiculous, but the fact that the skull somehow had Chapman's dogtags wrapped around it?]] Hilariously absurd.
51** After the two groups manage to successfully locate each other, [[spoiler: Victor]] is unceremoniously swept away and pulled apart by a flock of Leafwings, as if they specifically wanted to bring down the good mood.
52** The design of the Skullcrawlers themselves. With their arms too long, their tails too short and skinny, and their heads disproportionately big, they look less like the "snake-lizard hybrids" they were described as in promotional material, and more like awkward, unbalanced mosasaurs that just look physically clumsy. More than a few people have compared them to the demon monkeys from ''VideoGame/TempleRun''.
53** Conrad running in slow motion, slicing Leafwings in half mid-flight with a ''sword''. May be a NarmCharm for some, though.
54** Cole's death certainly qualifies; it's built up as a HeroicSacrifice that could injure or at least slow down The Big One, as he prepares two grenades and tries to goad The Big One into [[FightingFromTheInside eating him]]...only for said monster to just stare at him for a few seconds, clearly [[ItCanThink not taking the bait]], and instead ''whip its tail'' into Cole, sending him flying into a mountain where he [[SenselessSacrifice explodes "harmlessly"]]. What makes it especially funny is that it ''could'' have been intentional MoodWhiplash for BlackComedy - were it not for the slow-motion reaction shots of his comrades still tearfully screaming his name in anguish, implying that the scene is meant to be taken ''completely seriously''.
55* OneSceneWonder: The Spore Mantis. It only appears for a minute or two roughly halfway through the movie, but it's one of the most striking creature designs in it.
56* ParanoiaFuel:
57** The Mother Longlegs. As the Monarch file on the creature states...
58--->"When the spider is perfectly still, the bamboo trunks conceal it perfectly, turning an entire forest into a silent deathtrap of legs and mandibles."
59** The ants that make bird calls. Marlow mentions them as the group are sat among the trees, and everyone to look up and about nervously. [[NothingIsScarier We never do see one onscreen]], but we do hear plenty of bird songs throughout the film...
60* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: The trailer that introduced Marlow, while widely enjoyed, was met with criticism since the character appeared to walk in from a different, wackier movie, quickly making him a BaseBreakingCharacter among potential viewers. This was largely because the previous trailer portrayed the film as a grim affair like ''{{Film/Godzilla 2014}}'', but the movie as a whole establishes itself to have a more irreverent tone, from the very first shot of Marlow comically falling out of the sky. Once the actual film showed that Marlow had his own serious moments alongside his comedic lines gelling with the rest of the movie, he was much better received.
61* RootingForTheEmpire: It's not hard to sympathize with Col. Packard, especially considering that [[VillainHasAPoint he is entirely correct]] that Kong killed a bunch of his men, and want him to succeed in killing or at least defeating the great ape. To his credit, he comes extremely close but by that point in the film, it's made terribly clear that the Skull Crawlers are a far greater danger than Kong ever was.
62* SalvagedStory: Concerns about the portrayal of the island natives in past Kong films has been criticized as embodying Colonial stereotypes about non-European island cultures as savage, brutish, and superstitious with human sacrifice. The portrayal of the Iwi being civilized and friendly people, once understandable wariness of outsiders is sorted out, was taken as much more reasonable.
63* TheScrappy: San, Jing Tian's character. Between the fact that she is [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter a wasted character]] personified, Jing Tian's unpopularity in her native China, and the fact that Americans feel that she was shoehorned in to appeal to Chinese audiences meant that moviegoers in most regions had plenty of reason to dislike her.
64* SignatureScene: There are a few good contenders such as Kong's first attack on the soldiers during the sunrise, and [[spoiler:a soldier sacrificing his life against the monster for nothing,]] which often gets discussed on social media.
65* SpiritualSuccessor:
66** The film technically isn't based on any pre-existing material, but the idea of exploring Skull Island beyond Kong calls to mind the prequel book ''Kong: King of Skull Island''.
67** A lot of fans compare it favorably towards the first ''Film/JurassicPark'' movie, with some even calling it a worthy dsuccessor in terms of creature mayhem.
68** This movie can be considered the closest thing to a modern take of a Doug [=McClure=]-lead creature feature adventure film like ''Film/TheLandThatTimeForgot'' or ''Literature/AtTheEarthsCore''.
69* {{Squick}}: [[spoiler:Ramarak's death, his tongue is yanked straight out of his mouth by Kong.]]
70* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: A common criticism of the film is that while there are many characters with likable personalities and played by talented actors, most of them lack depth.
71** The cast is large and nearly everyone gets a moment to stick out...except for Jing Tian's San Lin. Her character is a biologist and could have offered insight on some of the bizarre creatures. Instead she is simply the 'other girl' and could've been absent from the movie.
72** Also Gunpei, especially when played by musician-actor Music/{{Miyavi}}, who already shown his acting chops in ''Film/{{Unbroken}}'', yet he does not have any dialogue in this film unlike his last Imperial Japanese military role in the said past film. But at least they had an excuse. The director added that he'd be willing to do a spin-off about him and Marlow earlier in the timeline if he were given the opportunity.
73** As [[https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/720675/my-kong-skull-island-review this review points out]], Weaver suffers no PTSD despite her experiences in Vietnam. [[https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/12/overexposed-a-photographers-war-with-ptsd/266468/ War photographers have been known to suffer PTSD in real-life]] so it would have been interesting to see Weaver dealing with it probably via nightmares, especially given the amount of crap she and the others go through in the movie and would've explained why she's antagonistic to Packard and probably would result in her overcoming it to help her friends. Instead, not much is done with her and her trauma's only implied or reduced to "War is bad". Interestingly, writer Dan Gilroy originally scripted some scenes revealing how Weaver became worn down and world-weary only to be reinvigorated by meeting Kong. Shame especially given she's played by Creator/BrieLarson.
74** Conrad. Outside of his missing father, much of his tragic backstory was glossed over in the film and [[AllInTheManual relegated to the novelization]]. Most notably, the novel revealed how Conrad became a disillusioned cynic after a botched mission in Malaysia that led to the death of the SAS soldiers under his command. Had this subplot been in the film, it would've given him a more compelling character arc of regaining his faith in humanity after meeting Kong and Marlow.
75** Bill Randa was [[spoiler: unceremoniously killed off]] after it was revealed that he was essentially the founder of MONARCH and a survivor of an unknown kaiju (possibly even Godzilla) attack. Far more interesting things could've been done with his character than another big name celebrity used as cannon fodder.
76* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: With Conrad having a long lost father who was a World War 2 pilot and Marlow missing his son, the film could've reworked Marlow into becoming a surrogate parental figure for Conrad. Alas, Marlow doesn't really bond with anyone besides Slivko over their midwestern roots and love of baseball.
77** Many people have pointed out that Marlow and Gunpei's backstory is ''far'' more interesting than a simple plot of "try to get off the island alive," especially since the film in its finished form basically hits similar points that the Peter Jackson 2004 film did. If the film had been about Marlow and Gunpei setting aside their differences and working together for decades, then the plot is kicked off when Gunpei is killed by a Skullcrawler when Packard and everyone arrives, then it actually could have made this a far more distinct and character-focused story. As it stands, it's usually regarded as good, but not great, whereas the backstory has the potential for being phenomenal, enough that the director has said he's open to the idea of doing a prequel since people like the idea so much.
78* TooCoolToLive: As soon as he pulled out [[FatalFamilyPhoto the photo of his wife]], many people feared that Hank Marlowe was just too awesome to make it off the island. [[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope He survives]] [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments and is happily reunited with his family.]]]]
79* VanillaProtagonist:
80** Conrad. While he's certainly got some depth and time in the spotlight, his character is overshadowed by the likes of [[ColonelKilgore Packard]] and [[CloudCuckooLander Marlow]].
81** Weaver could be considered a Vanilla Deuteragonist, as she's got the exact same thing going on: she's got some great moments, but ends up similarly overshadowed by those two characters.
82* TheWoobie:
83** Chapman. The guy always seems to have every moment of hope a relief taken away. When he was about to head home to see his son and start a new career as a flight attendant, he gets pulled back into combat yet again. Later when stranded alone on the western side of Skull Island, he briefly fends off a Spore Mantis [[spoiler:only to be gruesomely devoured by a Skullcrawler]].
84** Marlow. Sure he seems carefree and jolly but is secretly homesick after being stuck on Skull Island for nearly 30 years and is guilt-stricken for failing to save [[spoiler:Gunpei]]. He's also implied to have slightly GoneMadFromTheIsolation, as he asks the new arrivals a few times if they're really real, and looks at his imaginary "beer and hot dog at Wrigley field" in his empty hands as if he can actually see (and taste) them.
85** Kong himself. He is literally just an orphaned teenager struggling to survive on his own, on an island populated by deadly monsters, and while he seems to have shouldered the responsibility of being the island's protector, the scene where he visibly cries when Weaver touches him hints that deep down, he is a lonely child who misses his family.

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