King Kong Reviews
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Once again Peter Jackson delivers a masterpiece--not only does his latest effort live up to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, in some ways it surpasses it. Watching King Kong, it's obvious that Jackson loves filmmaking and even more obvious that he excels at it. Kong is big in every way, and its impact is sure to be even bigger.
The original 1933 version is the film that inspired Jackson to become a director, and the new film respectfully pays homage to it while adding more than enough twists and reinventions. It opens in New York City in the midst of the Depression era, with a young stage actress, Ann Darrow (played to perfection by Naomi Watts) struggling to find food and work after her production is shut down. When she meets overeager, overambitious filmmaker Carl Denham (Jack Black) and he offers her the chance to get on a ship to Singapore to film a movie written by her favorite playwright Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody), she hesitantly accepts. What no one besides the scheming Denham realizes is that in fact the cast and crew is heading for the mythical, undiscovered, possibly dangerous Skull Island.
After the tumultuous voyage and landing, it becomes clear that Skull Island is dangerous--not only dangerous, but deadly. Isolated from the outside world for centuries, it is inhabited by vicious natives intent on killing as many of the new arrivals as possible and sacrificing the golden-haired Ann to a savage beast...King Kong. When Driscoll and the rest of the passengers brave the island's jungles to rescue Ann, they face dinosaurs, giant bugs, and endless other menacing creatures. Ann, meanwhile, doesn't necessarily need rescuing--Kong becomes her protector, and gradually they form a deep emotional connection. Once King Kong is finally captured and shipped back to New York, however, the entire city is in danger from "the eighth wonder of the world".
Not only are the state-of-the-art effects phenomenal, but this is one of those rare movies that grabs you immediately and just doesn't let go. The connection you feel with the characters--particularly character relationships, such as the unlikely friendship between Ann and Kong--is so real; I was nearly moved to tears about three times. If the action takes a while picking up, it more than makes up for it for the last three quarters of the movie--it's practically non-stop--and yet in the midst of it all you never lose sight of the story. With a little comedy and romance mixed in with all the action and drama, there aren't many movie-goers who wouldn't enjoy King Kong. I found the acting to be top-notch, as well. In fact, everything about Kong is the best quality you can hope for in a movie! It's ground-breaking and original and will no doubt pave the way and set the standards for future movies to come.
It was funny, when I walked out of the theatre (hugely impressed, of course) and saw all those other movie posters lining the walls, I just couldn't imagine how they could possibly live up to Kong.
Review #2 - By Kat
King Kong is so much more then just a movie about a bit gorilla (which was originally all I took it to be). It's an actionpacked adventure with dinosaurs, giant insects (I totally don't recommend seeing it on the big screen when you don't have the power to skip a scene if you're an arachnaphobic), savage natives, romance and breathtaking scenery. It's also a period piece that captures all the glitz and glammer (and hardship) of the 30's.
The first hour of the film is dedicated to developing the characters as well as their journey by sea to Skull Island. Shortly after that we meet Kong and the action doesn't stop till the films close. Kong is a wonderful character that you come to love and definitely mourn. He's magnificently CG'd and a true work of art. The acting from the human cast is fantastic Oscar winner and nominee respectively Adam Brody and Naomi Watts do fantastically as Jack and Ann. Jack Black does a fantastic greedy madman and the littler publicised supporting cast were also fantastic. Especially Jamie Bell, Colin Hanks, Thomas Kretschmann and Evan Parke.
If I have any complaints it would be the lack of follow up on a few of the characters after the return to New York. Otherwise this is a breathtaking film that's WELL worth the admission price!
Other Reviews
Such a great movie that goes by fast and is full of action. Its a heartfilled tale. - Anon
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