King Kong (2005)

King Kong (2005)
Universal Pictures
Directed by Peter Jackson
Starring Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody, Andy Serkis

Hot off the success of the award winning The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Peter Jackson returns behind the camera to bring us the second remake of King Kong. It is well known that Jackson is a huge Kong fan, and this was his chance to pay tribute to the classic 1933 film by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack. Jackson brings a new approach to the story that adds new elements of drama, action, and romance to his rendition.

King Kong tells the story of a washed-up director, Carl Denham (Jack Black), who hires screenwriter Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody), and aspiring actress Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) to respectively write and star in his new film. He decides to take a ship out to the mysterious, undiscovered Skull Island for filming. When the cast and crew go aboard the island, they are attacked by natives and Ann is captured and is given as an offering to the giant gorilla, Kong. He takes Ann deep into the jungles, as Jack goes to save her. The crew finds their own trouble fighting off dinosaurs and giant insects. Jack saves Ann, but the mighty Kong has fallen in love with her. Denham has the crew capture Kong to bring back to the United States to show off and make a profit. Once in New York City, Kong becomes enraged and escapes to find Ann and makes one final standoff against humans on top of the Empire State Building.

After watching King Kong it is very apparent that Jackson has a great passion for Kong. The film runs over three hours long, nearly an hour-and-a-half longer than the original. Jackson flushes out all the original elements and themes and makes this romantic action fantasy into an epic. Because of the length of the film, the beginning does drag out a bit, trying to build some characterization for the major characters, giving some background to the era, and showing some romantic connection between Jack and Ann. But the true romance of King Kong is between Ann and Kong, the beauty and the beast. Kong began to understand her and come to have emotions towards her on Skull Island. These transferred over to New York City where Kong does everything he can to save Ann from harm. This brings about the social context of the original King Kong about interracial relationships. Throughout the movie, everyone tries to stop their love. The crew, the police, and the planes all try to separate the two. Ann also has feelings for Jack, who in society should be the person that she should be with, but instead she wants to be with Kong. When the two are together, they are genuinely happy, and nothing else matters to them; time seems to stop.

The special effects of King Kong are truly amazing. Kong looks like a real gorilla and there is so much emotion in his eyes. Jackson has proven to be a master of special effects as shown in King Kong and The Lord of the Rings. Andy Serkis brings life to Kong using motion capture. The dinosaurs and action sequences are all impressive and blend together with the miniature sets and live shots.

King Kong is a very impressive remake of the classic. The action is impressive, the story is full of great characters and emotion, and the scenery is beautiful. The only downside to this film is the length and some of the performances are not wonderful. The true star of this film is the computer-generated Kong, the “eighth wonder of the world.”

Rating: A-


February 27, 2010

King Kong: Deluxe Extended Edition
(2006)
The extended cut of Peter Jackson’s 2005 remake of King Kong adds an additional twenty minutes to the three hour film. The scenes are mostly action sequences on Skull Island that add some more thrills for the audience. The crew fights off a triceratops and gets attacked by underwater creatures. Besides the few actions scenes, the extended cut does not improve this wonderful tale of action and romance.

Rating: A-


February 27, 2010