4) Kong Kills Colonel Packard
One of the film’s most notable casualties is Colonel Packard, who becomes enraged over the deaths of his men and vows to remind Kong that “man is king.”
In many respects, Packard functions as the primary antagonist. The film doesn’t introduce him as the villain – it’s assumed that the Skull-crawlers are causing the most trouble for our heroes – but at a certain point, Packard’s bloodlust becomes too apparent to ignore. His refusal to forgive Kong leads to an epic confrontation that ends with the monstrous primate flattening the colonel with a hairy fist. The scene marks the moment when the tension and terror build to an all-time high; some much happens in the span of five seconds that it takes almost a minute to realize that Kong disposed of Packard with ruthless efficiency.
Condemnable actions aside, Packard isn’t painted as a cruel man. He simply wants closure for the brothers he lost in combat, even if they were the ones dropping bombs and causing destruction on a scale that even Kong found unacceptable. His motivations make a hell of a lot of sense given the context we get for his character, making his death one that’s definitely deserved but oddly poignant.
