This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 11th, 2007 at 1:45 pm and is filed under Action, Horror, K. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Director: Peter Jackson
Starring: Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Colin Hanks, Andy Serkis, Evan Parke, Jamie Bell
I guess the Lord Of The Rings trilogy left Peter Jackson a little out of practice at making a 2-hour movie. This mighty remake tips the time scales at just over 3 hours (and that is not even the extended edition). The characters are strong and the acting is solid, particularly by the three stars. The effects are impressive, but Jackson showcases them in actions scenes that often go on too long and strain credibility, even for a movie of this type. Predators only hunt the easiest prey to kill and only when they are hungry – you don’t see lions trying to catch bull rhinos, or every antelope on the Serengeti do you? Nature rule, Daniel-san, not mine. However, if it is action you love, and you don’t need every niggly, little detail to fit, then this movie serves it up; tons at a time.
For the first hour, this is the story of a down-on-her luck vaudeville performer named Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) and a make-his-own luck movie producer named Carl Denham (Jack Black). Denham pulls together a hasty expedition/escape to a mysterious island where he wants to shoot his next picture. Once they bump into the island, the action flies fast and furious and larger (much larger) than life, as the story that we are all familiar with really begins. Jackson manages to tell the tale with some humour and tenderness and enriches the traditional tale by giving Kong a lot of personality.
Impressive effort but overdone with a story that is engrossing, but could have used sharper editting and action scenes that are amazing but could have had the same effect with less time and repetition. Oh yeah, and it really didn’t need all those damn creepy, crawly, giant bugs. That is just my squeamish, Nancy-boy opinion, but there it is. This is a strong movie that could have been much, much stronger with a little self-restraint. It is ok to watch once, but much tougher to sit through a second time. Try it. You’ll see.
