The Monsterverse has mutated to animation form with Skull Island developed by Brian Duffield. He previously wrote the sci fi horror film, Underwater (2020). Legendary previously produced the anime series, Pacific Rim: The Black. The animation is from Powerhouse Animation which also worked on Blood of Zeus for Netflix. The Original Kaiju starred in King Kong (1933). In 1966-1929, there was from Rankin and Bass, The King Kong Show, Toei Animation provided the visuals. Kong entered the Monsterverse in Kong: Skull Island (2017). The film’s setting was 1973. He faced the King of the Monsters in Godzilla vs. Kong (2021). The ultimate fight had a setting of 2024. Skull Island currently streams on Netflix. We hear running and a struggle, it is a young girl (Mae Whitman), a stowaway. Whitman voiced Batigrl in DC Super Hero Girls: Legends of Atlantis (2018).
She is escaping from several men on a ship at sea. The mysterious girl is handcuffed with a heavy coat. The research crew tries to calmly corner the stowaway against a railing, she leaps onto a boy covered with tires, one of the burly crew men leaps after her. He tries to climb up to catch her, but the girl kicks him off, and reaches the railing of the ship. One fires a tranquilizer dart at her, but still the stowaway evades them all. Yes, the girl is resourceful, but this a useless crew that can’t secure a handcuffed stowaway. She threatens them with a lighter and then tosses it over to a spilled fuel can! This causes a fire to break out that the girl uses for her escape, sliding down a rope, to a boat. She sends the boat forward across the unknown sea. Above is the stormy sky which brings down lightning strikes! There is another boat making its way on the same sea.
Aboard is father, Cap (Benjamin Bratt), and his son, Charlie (Nicholas Cantu). Charlie is eager to go to college rather than with his father on his research monster hunting. Cap goes with his briefcase to talk with his colleague, Hiro (Yuki Matsuzaki). Sam’s son, Mike (Darren Barnet) talks with Charlie. Mike is more comfortable on the boat. It seems like a Jonny Quest (1964) group. A bearded enginner, Boomer, sets charges and then fires them off the side of the boat. The explosion is monitored by the research fathers. Charlie on his own sees on the side the stranded girl. She starts to sink into the depths when Charlie ties a rope to leap for a rescue. He pulls her up and calls for help from Mike. Safe on deck, everyone sees the runaway girl and Mike takes her away. I’m amazed there is no medic on board.
In the control room, she is startled awake, and Charlie can see she is handcuffed. This research crew is incredibly trusting to a stranded person with handcuffs. I think the show should have started with her rescue. She sees a flare and says, “the sky’s on fire”, the fathers go to check on it. Charlie and the father’s use a binocular to see the approach of the ship. They discover that the ship is no longer seen. A pontoon boat with the dark dressed mercs bumps into the ship’s bow. Charlie introduces himself and the girl finally says her name is Annie. He tries to explain that they are on an expedition to find cryptids; mysterious creatures like the Loch Ness Monster. She doesn’t understand expeditions or what is a deep sea charge. Once he explains it, Annie is shocked that the charges will “bring it back.”
She says a monster had destroyed her lifeboat. Charlie goes to warn his father. Mercs have slipped onto the ship. The fathers go into the control room, Charlie and Mike rush in hearing noise, Annie has used a wrench. She has bashed the radio in trying to stop a merc. Cap wants to know Annie’s story, but the merc has revived and threatens them with a knife. Another merc is about to shoot Boomer, but is suddenly pulled away! Then, he is dragged away by a tentacle, a giant squid or kraken! The tentacles have a strange way of finding victims without any kind of eyes or sensory parts. Boomer is splattered against the window and then thrown to the sea. Annie tells Charlie that they should leave to her island. This is the island where Charlie and Mike find themselves on escaping the kraken. There is a gradual pacing to get to the expected Kaiju, logic gaps, but then we get to a lost group on Skull Island!
Three Binoculars out of Five!
#SkullIsland, #NicholasCantu, #DarrenBarnet, #MaeWhitman, #BenjaminBratt, #YukiMasuzaki, #IanJamesCorlett
No comments:
Post a Comment