My Monsterverse Part 1. Island Of Kong: Creation

Image from riceburroughs.com

After enjoying Legendary's Monsterverse series, and revisiting all the older movies of the G&K franchises, I've written a 7-film movie synopsis for my own Godzilla/Kong universe. 

This isn't motivated by any dissatisfaction with the Monsterverse. In fact, I've used many elements from that series to craft my own. 

There's not much that's original here. I've just taken the best stuff from all the old and new movies and put it into my own recipe, and used a ton of inspirations from other films and stories. 

My series isn't a shared universe as much as an expanding one. A Kong trilogy that spins off to a Godzilla trilogy, followed by a blowout finale. It takes place in the timeframe of the original films, from the early 1930s to mid 1950s. 

Island of Kong: Creation

Based on the unfinished 1931 film Creation, which eventually became King Kong (1933).

Jack Driscoll works for American tycoon Thortan Armitage as a tutor and mentor for Thornton's young son William (nicknamed Will).

Jack is interested in Ann Darrow, but she's the fiance of Ned Hallet, a cousin to the family.

40 degrees south of the equator,  off the coast of southern Chile, not far from Patagonia, the Thortan family is on a vacation cruise when a massive storm strikes. The family and other cruise members are evacuated to a Chilean submarine. A typhoon throws the sub into an underwater ravine and it emerges inside an extinct volcano. The damaged vessel begins to sink, forcing everyone to swim for their lives. Ann is revealed to be an exceptional swimmer, helping others to shore. The crew exit the volcano to find they are lost on a prehistoric island. It isn't long before they are attacked by the island's animal inhabitants.

Many scenes of the Creation script were altered and used in King Kong and it's remakes. They are presented here again, but with new twists. For example, it's an Arsenatherium that throws crewmen off the log. 

The film functions as both a prequel and partial remake to the original King Kong. There is a spider pit scene with actual spiders (Peter Jackson's version was great, but featured more slugs and crickets than spiders). Giant spiders will have an ubiquitous presence throughout the Island trilogy. 

The crew discover a family of giant Apes, and Kong is introduced as a half-grown child. The Apes are fairly tolerant of humans. The crew finds it to their benefit to camp close to them. 

Native humans are also found, but they are shy and avoid contact. 

The crew survives for a month on the island. A man of science, Jack marvels at the wondrous plant and animal life.  He theorizes to the others that this island may be the very place where life began. He calls it Creation.

Will forms a bond with the inquisitive young Kong, who becomes a protector of the group, fighting off many prehistoric beasts that attack them. 

Ned's mental state deteriorates the point that he is a danger to the group (it doesn't help that Ann and Jack have become close). Outcasted, he takes a gun and leaves. In his anger, he shoots and kills a baby Triceratops. He is chased down and gored to death by the baby's mother. 

The crew discovers an ancient Temple built by a lost civilization. There are many treasures and precious metals inside the temple, which become relevant later when the crew realizes the island is in a state of geologic instability. They realize they need to escape soon. At great risk to her life, Ann swims down to the sunken submarine to retrieve a radio, their only chance at contacting someone to rescue them. 

She finds the radio. On her return, she is attacked by a Piranhadon, which is fought and dispatched by Kong.

Jack uses the metals from the temple to construct a Leyden jar to repair the radio and attempt transmission. 

An earthquake ensues, and the once extinct volcano erupts, flooding much of the island in molten rock. A pack of T-Rexes, forced out of their territory, converge on the survivor's campsite. The group flees through the crumbling temple but are surrounded by the dinosaurs. Kong's family arrives and there is a major tribal battle.  The fight is a grand spectacle, but also brutal and heartwrenching.

Outnumbered, one juvenile ape is pulled down by the Rexs' jaws.  Another valiant ape warrior falls into a river of lava, taking a T. Rex with him. Kong does his best to help, but is too small to be effective. While Kong's father battles two T-Rexes at once, Kong's mother holds up a collapsing archway, allowing the crew to escape.  Kong refuses to abandon his parents, but his mother shoves him through the door just before everything is buried. 

While fleeing the temple, Will is snatched by a pterodactyl and carried away from the rest of the group. Kong rescues him, but they are cut off and unable to reach the others. 

Will's family is devastated to lose him, but there's nothing they can do but save themselves. 

Having received Jack's S.O.S., a ship arrives just in time to rescue the survivors. The film ends with Kong and Will, stranded and alone, surveying the wrecked landscape of the island.