MOVIE: KING KONG
CAST: NAOMI WATTS, ANDY SERKIS, JACK BLACK, ADRIEN BRODY, COLIN
HANKS
DIRECTED BY: PETER JACKSON
RUNNING TIME:
RATING: ****
Well the second movie event of 2005 year has arrived. First one was the huge box office bonanza STAR WARS EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH. That was a pretty good movie but was seriously flawed. And the biggest of STAR WARS fans would acknowledge the fact that REVENGE OF THE SITH was not nearly as magical as STAR WARS or EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.
But here is Peter Jackson, the director who gave us arguably the greatest trilogy of all time LORD OF THE RINGS. Well folks, it is time to move over Steven Spielberg. Mr. Jackson is the new entertainer. As it goes Mr. Jackson couldn’t find a producer to produce his LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy as it had a whopping $324 million as its budget. Newline Cinema took the gamble and it paid off big time.
KING KONG was Mr. Jackson’s dream project. When he saw the RKO studio’s KING KONG (1933) that was it. In fact he wanted to make it in 1998 but UNIVERSAL had GODZILLA to release and hence the project was dropped. But post LORD OF THE RINGS, Mr. Jackson enjoys a clout that is comparable to Mr. Spielberg. Hence he could make this movie at a whopping budget of $207 million.
Now the big question- is the movie worth the hype? Believe me, it is every bit worth that and much more. In fact rarely have I seen an event movie being so good. Remakes are being shelled out of Hollywood like coins and they are all really awful. But here is a remake that is every bit as good as the original and in many ways surpasses it.
There is nothing special about the main plot. Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) is a struggling actress in depression era New York. She is all down to rags and is on the edge when she is approached by Carl Denham (Jack Black). Denham is a director who desperately needs something to go his way and he persuades Darrow and a writer Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody) to Singapore which is in fact a trip to a mysterious place called Skull Island.
They reach there, Ann Darrow gets abducted by the local tribes, offered to King Kong who in turn falls in love with her and the rest of the plot ensues. There is nothing special or new in the story that has not already been conceived by a host of screenwriters in Hollywood. But is the man at the helm of affairs who has done the trick.
It is Mr. Jackson’s beautiful imagination of scenes and images that scores big time.
He has story telling capabilities that can be compared to the best in the business.
For a start, King Kong is awesome. The emotions, the reactions are so beautiful.
The special effects are nothing short of spectacular. One action scene involving King Kong and three T-Rexes is one of the best things ever shown on celluloid.
But the strong points of the movie are not the action scenes. Any director can do that as Michael Bay (THE ISLAND, ARMAGEDDON, PEARL HARBOR) and Roland Emmerich (GODZILLA, INDEPENDENCE DAY, THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW)
have proved time and again. But it is the conveying of emotions without being loud that is the secret to a memorable movie. And KING KONG does just that. One of the most beautiful scenes is where KING KONG and Darrow together enjoy the sunset. That scene is just too beautifully conceived. And the scene where KING KONG and Darrow dance around at Central Perk is so touching.
Andy Serkis as King Kong is nothing short of amazing (remember Gollum). The combination of Serkis and the CGI effects bring out a King Kong who has real attitude and at the same time has real emotions.
But yeah, the movie is bit towards the longer side. Mr. Jackson as he showed us with the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy has problems as far the editing room goes. A couple of scenes like where the sailors fight off really filthy creatures in the jungle is a bit too long. But that is what the beauty of personal movie making is. I have always liked personal movies, movies where director is walking on the thin line of overindulgence and occasionally falling over to the other side. That is when we enjoy movies, don’t we. Why do we enjoy Scorsese, why do we enjoy Tarantino?
All in all KING KONG is one monster of a movie. Seldom are movies an experience and when they are it is acrime to miss it. The last time we had a similar experience was LORD OF THE RINGS and now it is KING KONG. Go watch it, for it is really worth the experience. Seldom do you go the movies on a Friday night and return with a smile that lasts till Sunday evening. KING KONG will do just that and much more.
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