King Kong

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Jordan

Extended cut on bluray. Don't think the film really needed to be extended but the extra action stuff is fun. As much as I love Jamie Bell I just wish they would get rid his whole story with Evan Parke, it's terribly written and drags the film down and makes me want to tear my hair out every time they start talking about Heart of Darkness. Especially since all the characters on the ship are pretty much gone after the first hour and a half and have no relevance in the climax.

It's obvious where Jacksons sensibilities lie. He makes Kong a real tragedy and Denham a real asshole. His love for the original film is quite clear. This passion project is pretty over indulgent but there's a lot to like.

The action sequences and the beautiful backgrounds are the reason I revisit this film. Naomi Watts and Andy Serkis/Weta are great and I shall never stop enjoying that whole V-rex vs Kong fight in the vines.

I still can't justify them taking an hour to get to the Island. The '33 Kong does it in under 10 minutes and granted they aren't exploring theme as in depth and fleshing out far to many characters but still, that's a lot to take in before it feels like the actual film begins.

Once they are up on the Empire State though it's all smooth sailing.

I really like the James Newton Howard score. I'm curious as to what Howard Shore would have done and why they decided to change but what we ended up with was pretty great.

In a film with this many effects it's probably useless to complain about the few small bits that always pop out as rush jobs but there's always those few shots that make me wince a little. For the most part though, it's fantastic.

A real mixed bag but always a big adventure if you're gonna take it on.