The "Kong" Show

According to the latest box office report from Box Office Mojo, the 4 day holiday weekend saw King Kong barely retain the top spot against The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, with only .3 million separating the two films. As Narnia and Kong continue to fight it out...

Last Thursday night, I watched King Kong, here now is my review:

The original King Kong from 1933 was truly a marvel for its time and has inspired many filmmakers over the years since its release. When I found out that Peter Jackson was going to remake the film, I like everyone else got very excited, and hoped that that the film would another grand slam--ala` his breathtaking adaptation of The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy. And while I did enjoy the new film quite a bit, it wasn't the blockbuster I thought it would be.

Larger than life, fly by the seat of his pants, documentary filmmaker, Carl Denham (Jack Black), sails off to remote Skull Island to film his latest epic with leading lady, Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) and writer Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody) in tow. Upon their arrival, native warriors kidnap Ann to use her as a sacrifice to summon the mighty "Kong. But instead of devouring Ann, Kong saves her from her fate and the island's many exotic creatures. Kong is eventually captured and taken back to New York. Leading us of course to the now famous climax atop the Empire State Building, with a fleet of World War I fighter planes, gunning for the giant ape.

Off the top, the CGI Kong is a beautiful creature, allowing for some of the best use of the technique I have seen on film. That said though, at 3 hours and 7 minutes (without previews and ads) the film does drag on a bit too long for my tastes. The scenes on Skull Island, for example, seemingly take forever. As the characters escape the other CGI enhanced dinosaurs, spiders, giant birds, slugs and bats, the impact gets lost. They are padded beyond belief...thus they also lose their edge and excitement. There are stretches of time where dialogue gives way to action--making it seem as though Jackson indulged himself too often with the bells and whistles.

I have to hand it to Watts and Black for doing a good job in the film. As Ann, I felt her connection to Kong, helping to sustain the story. While Black, known for his more comedic roles, acquits himself very well, as Denham. On the flip side Brody seemed out of place as Jack. Watts has more chemistry with Andy Serkis playing Kong than she does with Brody--no spark at all.

When the action moves back to the city, the film gets back on track, for one heck of a conclusion. Matching the grand spectacle and wonder of the original, it took me back to the first time I saw the '33 version. Wow!

In order to do justice to the source material, Jackson had to release the extended cuts of The Lord Of The Rings films. For King Kong though, I think had he followed the axiom that sometimes " less is more", what is a very good film would have been a true masterpiece indeed.