Honest Trailers usually offers some good-natured shots and insights on our favorite blockbusters, but they definitely went in for blood in their Kong: Skull Island video. The exceptional brutality and honesty of this trailer doesn’t come from the ScreenJunkies team though, but from a special appearance by the film’s own director Jordan Vogt-Roberts.
After a few minutes of a typical honest trailer that pokes fun at how a gigantic ape is able to sneak up on the characters, the video is interrupted by a “Really guys, this is the best you got?” That’s none other than Vogt-Roberts who trades your redundant dick jokes for harsh critiques of the film’s structural problems, character arcs, crowded cast, and wow, even ScreenJunkies is like, “Geez, this is really honest.”
The only point that Vogt-Robert’s won’t accept? The accusation that the film has too many helicopters. Helicopters are a Kong thing y’all, and there is a shot establishing that a boat is carrying helicopters and he will not stand for these accusation.
Vogt-Robert is very good-natured about the criticism and the video take the chance to reference the conflict last month between the Kong director and CinemaSins, a video series that Vogt-Roberts criticized for creating too-long and poorly made nitpicking reviews that hide behind the guise of satire.You can click on the tweets below for his full thread about the series. There’s one or two satire jokes, and then a not-subtle “Everything Kong With Skull Island in 120 Minutes or Less” card at the end.
Things like Cinema Sins simply suck the life blood of other people and are often just wrong about intent or how cinema works. It’s terrible.
— Jordan Vogt-Roberts (@VogtRoberts) August 15, 2017
Couple of things I want to say regarding cinema sins, the misuse of the word “satire” and a few more things. I need to put a bow on this.
— Jordan Vogt-Roberts (@VogtRoberts) August 16, 2017
ScreenJunkies makes a point to note that they set up this collaboration a month in advance, and when the timing just happened to line up with the conflict they took their shot. The video is an amusing take on Kong: Skull Island with great jokes and director insight. However, it also demonstrates that Vogt-Roberts’ beef with CinemaSins isn’t just a gut-reaction to any criticism but rather a comment on lazy and bad film criticism that neither inspires nor teaches. He can handle the jokes and burns, but try and do your homework beforehand.
What did you think of this Honest Trailer?
(via email, image: screencap)
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