Classic Kong becomes King of CGI Movies

In one fell swoop Peter Jackson remade an iconic film, rewrote an iconic story, and reinvented an iconic character in King Kong. How was it- spectacular! Mostly :) The story line became as compelling and obsessive as Jack Black's interpretation of Carl Denham. Naomi Watts was perfect as Ann Darrow. I liked that Jackson stayed close to the original story, though it was troublesome for me as a man to think of a beautiful woman falling in love with an ape.

One thing that was excellent was the set, costume, and character renderings of the World War I era, both in New York and on Skull Island. The natives on the island were positively horrific in their terror, feeling like I was back in the zombie film of 28 Days Later. I suppose if I lived on an island where you had to keep a monster gorilla from consuming your village by offering one of your own as a sacrifice on a regular basis, I might develop a culture of fear too.

Speaking of the island, I wasn't really expecting to run into Steven Speilberg on this adventure, but it was a clear nod to Jurrasic Park as the herione runs from the bite of valoceraptors to T-rex that we feel like we might have taken a detour into another film momentarily. Still, the film really doesn't create the situation from nothing. It provides the "homeland" for our Kong, in which you find out why he is truly the king of his island. Some people have complained that the picture takes too long on Skull Island, but for me, I think it is a great development. I also truly enjoyed the character development of Ann Darrow, showing her plight as a stage performer who loses her job (as the vaudville theatres close down) and considers the possibility of having to dance in a burlesque club (the early 20th century version of peepshow porn houses).

Not much fails in this film, though there are a couple of points that render into the absurd. When Adrien Brody's Jack Driscoll character takes off to single-handedly rescue Ann Darrow, he somehow finds her and Kong instantly. This would be fine if the rest of the movie allowed for time lapses and cut aways and openings in similar fashion. But the rest of the movie leaves no such thing to imagination, so this one abberation seems unrealistic. There is also a literal cliff hanger scene in which Ann Darrow, King Kong and 4 T-rex attackers all re-enact a scene from The Emperor's New Groove in which Kuzco and Kronk swing from entangling vines trying to hit one another. This scene was supposed to be a "cliff hanger" but quickly turned into humor. I kept thinking it was so absurd I wasn't sure if Jackson meant me to laugh or meant it as serious suspense. I laughed anyways.

What makes the film tower above its namesake film of 1933 is the incredible voiceless performance of Andy Serkis as Kong himself. The acting in this film is what makes it the new standard in monster films. Yes the CGI is amazing, the directing is artful, but the acting makes it work and really engage the audience.

You won't be disappointed in the 3 hours plus that it will take to watch this film. For the parents out there-- the fight scenes aren't any more frightning than anything you've scene in films like Jurrasic Park, but the shots and interaction with the Skull Island villagers will scare any child under 12 (even if they don't admit it). Seeing this film will be a waste of time on DVD, unless you have a 60 inch or larger screen-- REALLY! See this in the theatre!