So admittedly, like most of you are probably thinking at this moment, I was finding myself wondering why in the hell would anyone remake a movie that had already seen one bad remake come and go and is based on a stop motion film that came out in the last century… Let alone have it be three hours long when the original clocked in well under two.
Doubtless you have found yourself also wondering, “Why the hell are there dinosaurs in it?! Is this a bad Jurassic Park tie in or something?” Of course there were dinosaurs in the original film, but most people have either forgotten it or never actually seen it. So naturally the mind jumps right to the most famous dinosaur picture that we remember and assumes they must be ripping it off. And why not, seeing as how Hollywood does it all the time….
And finally, why would Peter Jackson choose to follow up the amazing trilogy that was The Lord of the Rings with a King Kong remake of all things, saying only that it is a loving homage and tribute to the original film?
Because as we learned with Rings he is a damn fine film maker….
When I sat down to watch this film, I couldn’t help but hear the various mumblings of my fellow reviewers, “So how do you think this is gonna be?” “God I hope this doesn’t waste three hours of my life.” And my favorite, “I have a good feeling about this one, but then again, I did about War of the Worlds as well and we know how that went…”
Obviously I was not the only slightly skeptical person in the room. In fact, I think most people will be skeptical of this film, until they see it for themselves.
So why did I enjoy this movie so much you ask? Because you totally believe Kong and more importantly his relationship with the girl. Granted some of the effects shots are not what one might expect a $200 million dollar plus movie to have, BUT whenever it was a pivotal Kong moment, they deliver. More on the effects as we go along.
Kong for the first time isn’t a monster, but a giant ape as he was always meant to be. He emotes, has that stoic rage that any genuine silverback seems to possess and has a completely real relationship with Naomi Watts’ character. (More on that later too.)
For now let’s dive right into the movie itself.
The first thing you will notice, and grow to be awed by, is the filmmaker’s attention to detail when it comes to recreating a period New York of the 1930’s. Images of poverty and strife greet us from the get go, ...
