Ever since his first appearance in the seminal 1933 film bearing his name, King Kong has been an object of fascination among moviegoers. Originally created by revolutionary special effects master Willis H. O’Brien and sculptor Marcel Delgado, the gigantic ape came to be the unforgettable protagonist of Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack’s film released almost 85 years ago.
The movie was a monster hit at the height of the Great Depression and broke records through decades of re-releases and television airings. Remakes, spin-offs and more followed; so what was it that inspired filmmakers to once more revisit the legend? “Kong represents all the mystery and wonder that still exists in the world,” says Kong: Skull Island director Jordan Vogt-Roberts. “That’s why he will never stop being relevant.”
Set in the early 1970s, Kong: Skull Island charts the adventures of a team of scientists, soldiers and adventurers who set out to explore a mythical, beautiful but dangerous island in the Pacific. Once there, the team ventures into the domain of the mighty Kong, igniting the ultimate battle between man and nature. As their mission of discovery becomes one of survival, they must fight to escape a primal Eden in which humanity does not belong.
Producer Thomas Tull explains that for millions of Kong fans around the world, how the giant ape came to be remains the Holy Grail of origin stories. “One of the most fascinating elements of the Kong lore is Skull Island – a place with the most exotic, lethal food chain you can imagine, and Kong is the alpha predator keeping the rest at bay,” elaborates Tull. “That’s the mythology we wanted to crack open in this film. Our characters are not taking Kong off the island. They have to survive his domain.”
This story feels like an allegory for the animal nature that’s within us all
Samuel L. Jackson, who plays Vietnam veteran Lt Colonel Preston Packard, says: “We want to see Kong in an environment that is as big and spectacular as he is. We know he lives in the jungle, but what else is in that jungle? What’s out there that allows him to exist? Are there others or is he an anomaly?”
Furthermore, adds Tom Hiddleston, who stars as disillusioned SAS vet Captain James Conrad: “Kong embodies the internal clash between our civilised selves and the place in our consciousness that still has a very real sense of something bigger than ourselves. How do you reconcile this massive creature who is both a terrifying force of nature and a sentient being with an intelligence that is different from ours but no less sophisticated?”
Academy award-winner Brie Larson, who plays wartime photojournalist Mason Weaver, concurs: “To me, this story feels like an allegory for the animal nature that’s within us all,” she remarks. “We’re so far removed now from that part of ourselves; we seem to feel the need to overcome it in so many ways. It also taps into the ways we deal with the world around us – how we treat nature and how we value it, and how we value other human beings as well.”
Apart from the strong ensemble cast led by Hiddleston, Jackson and Larson, Vogt-Roberts had powerful team behind him, including 300 artists, animators and technicians from premier visual effects house Industrial Light & Magic, led by senior visual effects supervisor Stephen Rosenbaum and visual effects supervisor Jeff White. Their work on Kong took over a year and a half, eight months of which were spent designing the mythic figure. “Our inherent challenge was to have audiences feel an affinity for Kong and to imbue him with that element of humanity,” Rosenbaum explains.
The movie was shot in three continents over six months, capturing its primordial landscapes on Oahu, Hawaii, on Australia’s Gold Coast, and finally in various locations in Vietnam, some of which have never before been seen on film, as befitting a movie set around the time the infamous war ended.
The choice of era was a conscious one for Vogt-Roberts, inspired by 1970s movies. By colliding Cooper and Schoedsack’s lost world of monsters into a chaotic era of choppers, napalm and rock’n’roll, he says. “I want this film to take people out of their comfort zone and thrust them into a balls-to-the-wall adventure that is visceral, intense and like nothing they’ve ever seen before. I’m pretty sure you won’t find a gigantic ape-like creature punching a Huey helicopter in another movie… but that was the movie I wanted to see.”
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