Review: King Kong (2005)

King Kong
2005
180 minutes
rated PG-13

by Scott Mendelson

Peter Jackson's King Kong is a complete joy; a ripping yarn that
refuses to let the audience settle for less, both in technical and
artistic achievements. At its best, it has the showmanship to remind
you of how you felt while watching your favorite adventure film from
childhood. It's not perfect, but its flaws are ones born out of risk,
imagination, and the willingness to swing for the fences in an age
when all too many filmmakers settle for a ground rule double.

Based on the 1933 horror classic, a quick montage sets the scene in
Depression-era New York. An unlucky Vaudeville performer (Naomi Watts)
is tricked into joining a voyage to Skull Island with moviemaker Carl
Denham (Jack Black) and his unwilling screenwriter Jack Driscoll
(Adrien Brody). Upon arrival, Ann is immediately abducted by the
locals and presented as a sacrifice to their resident twenty-five foot
gorilla, known as Kong. While Carl and his team battle all manner of
horrors to rescue their starlet, Ann finds herself alone on the
island, with only Kong to protect her. He starts to see her as the
only thing on the island that doesn't fear him or wish to hurt him,
while Ann comes to see him as the great pet that she never had, with
all the fondness that that entails.

The few flaws must be addressed. The film is about 20 minutes too
long. In particular, the crash landing on Skull Island and the climax
of the Skull Island sequences feel slightly padded, slightly lessening
their emotional and visceral impact. There are several forced nods to
the original film that do not quite gel. Finally, the arc of a certain
major character seems to naturally be leading to their death, but
because he survived in the original, he lives here and his final line
is completely out of character for this particular interpretation.

By nearly every other standard, King Kong is top-notch. The writing is
witty and sharp, with several clever lines of dialogue (the initial
meeting of Ann and Jack is particularly funny) and several wry pokes
at show business (Jack, the screenwriter is literally stowed away with
the animals and forced to write in a cage).

The atmosphere is consistently one of dread and horror. For the entire
first hour, amidst the character development and set-up, there is a
constant sense of impending doom, which climaxes with the horrifying
first encounter with the Skull Island natives (in the original, they
were relatively racist 'savage' caricatures, but here they are merely
indigenous people driven completely insane with fear from living in
this terrible place). The rest of the picture is genuinely scary and
savagely violent when needed, so parents are warned. This film earns
its PG-13.

The acting is terrific across the board. Watts is the emotional center
of the film and Brody is fun as the screenwriter turned reluctant
adventurer. The rest of the crew is well drawn and sympathetic, so you
will know whom you are mourning when some of them perish. Even the
usually annoying Jack Black gives a restrained performance, allowing
Denham's Ahab-like zeal for fortune and glory to slowly overtake his
very soul, until he resembles a near murderous Orson Welles.

The action scenes are literally astonishing. I won't describe them as
the less you know the better, but they do detail and expand on
sequences from the original film (especially the gross-out highlight,
which is actually a deleted scene from the original). Such is the awe-
inspiring nature of the main set pieces that some may be reminded of
the wonder that they experienced when they first saw Jurassic Park
twelve and a half years ago. Technically speaking, THIS is the next
benchmark for special effects and adventure filmmaking.

Lastly, one must mention Andy Serkis, who delivers a genuine acting
triumph as the titular 25-foot gorilla. Yes, Kong is physically a CGI
creation (and a flawless one at that), but every gesture, footstep and
grunt is Serkis's.

King Kong is a terrific entertainment. It is big, messy, occasionally
flawed, occasionally overdone, but utterly captivating in its old
school romantic zeal. It is the best kind of flawed movie; one that is
flawed because it reaches for the sun but merely reaches a nearby
star. Peter Jackson honors the original and improves on it in many
ways, and in his zeal to make a bigger, more emotional, more openly
daring blockbuster; he honors the adventurous moviegoer in all of us.

Grade: A