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King Kong review
2005.11.17 — Entertainment | Movies | Movie Reviews | by Andrew Cole
His Serene Majesty, King Kong (and lady friend). [official site] |
Kong is king. All hail King Kong. No beast is beastlier, no monster monsterier, no spectacle spectacularer. This is, by a far, the biggest, most astounding monster movie ever made. Skull Island ought to be called Holy Crap Island. It's the hard candy center of the film. But the mushy outer layers of Depression-era desperation, artistic vision, heartbreaking tragedy (of the ape sort), and romantic fulfillment (of the human sort) kind of stick to the wrapper.
Director Peter Jackson has yearned to make this film since he was a kid. Once he'd made the Lord of the Rings films he could write his own ticket, of course, so he chose Kong as his next project and brought along the writing team of Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens from Rings. LotR was all about humanity, heart, courage, and sacrifice. So why does King Kong stumble over those very stones?
LotR was all about humanity, heart, courage, and sacrifice. So why does King Kong stumble over those very stones? |
The whole first hour of the film (did I mention that it's three hours long?) walks us thru the struggling careers of Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts), Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody), and Carl Denham (Jack Black). It's 1933, and Ann is a earnest, struggling hoofer in the Big Apple whose show has just closed. Jack is an earnest, successful playwright slumming with Carl for a little actual money. Carl is a visionary filmmaker whose backers just backed out because all he has shot is several reels of jungle animals.
I'm not sure if we're supposed to see Carl as a genuine visionary (he makes an impassioned speech against "boobies" in cinema) or as a huckster with a camera, because huck he does. His scene with his backers is about the worst in the film; everyone is saying what they're saying, instead of just saying it, including Jack Black, who is always a little too self-aware for the role; in real life, guys like him don't realize they're guys like him. Thru Carl's machinations, the three principals hop a tramp steamer to "Singapore" to shoot a movie Jack hasn't actually finished writing yet.
Ann and Jack fall for each other, mainly because she admires his work and he admires her legs. |
On board ship, we meet some of the crew of the ship and the film. The preening-but-likeable Bruce Baxter (the terrific Kyle Chandler) is Carl's leading man. The skipper Englehorn is a creepy wild animal bringer-backer. Young Jimmy is a former stowaway. Don't bother learning the names of any of the others.
Ann and Jack fall for each other, mainly because she admires his work and he admires her legs. The strange, hoky relationship between an older black mate and the young Jimmy is grating and predictable, especially since Jimmy has been a hand on a ship that captures wild animals for a few years and appears old enough to be drafted into the army. If I were trapped on an island full of monsters, you can bet I'd be jamming a rifle into the hands of my 10-year-old deer-hunting nephew, let alone Jimmy.
[A]ssuming you're still awake, what happens next is the biggest thing in the history of monster movies. |
But, assuming you're still awake, what happens next is the biggest thing in the history of monster movies. If you think Jurassic Park was big, you ain't seen nothin' yet. If you think Godzilla was a monster, you haven't seen a knock-down, drag-out battle royale between a giant gorilla and three dinosaurs... falling into a vine-tangled ravine. At times, it is over the top—exhausting even. It's horrifying on top of creepy on top of scary on top of exhilarating on top of "holy crap!" on top of "oh, come on!"
Kong is mighty. Kong is gigantic. Kong is majestic. Kong is king.
While Kong makes his debut across town, Jack attends the opening of his play, the worst comedy in the history of theater. |
When Kong gets taken back to New York City, we return to the realm of platitudes and hollow sentiment. While Kong makes his debut across town, Jack attends the opening of his play, the worst comedy in the history of theater. It's no wonder that Ann is balling the jack elsewhere (no pun intended).
Otherwise, this third act we all know so well plays out quickly and pretty much as we imagine it. There is a moment, tho, when Kong has reunited with Ann, that I found myself wishing that Ann would actually express some sentiment beyond simple sad affection. She should try to get him to leave, to run away, or at least express the wish that he would run away. She knows as well as we do that Kong is doomed in New York.
Some of the effects are hoky (the dino stampede was too long and too sloppy), and the human relationships were weakly written and acted, but Kong and Ann hit the right notes, and that's what mostly counts.
f e e d b a c k
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