 ""And lo, the beast looked upon the face of beauty . . . and beauty stayed his hand."" | 2009-10-08 |
| - Reviewed By orbmagnet |
Every Kong film has their ups and downs, but some of them can be a bit obvious. This new 2005 remake is probably slightly better than the original. Kong is given a more ferocious and more human appearance, while the CGI effects are top-notch. Naomi Watts, Jack Black, and Adrien Brody are absolutely amazing here (but they still can't top Wray, Armstrong, and Cabot). And the action is what you would expect from a Kong film, only that it's probably the most exciting we'll ever see when it comes to this version. But there are, as always, flaws. The sub-plot that involves Jimmy and Hayes was not needed at all: it slows the film down and it sometimes feels like it turns into a completely different movie. The references to the original 1933 film are clever, but there are too much of them in this film. They become irritating once we get into the third act. The music theme wasn't eerie and powerful enough; it could have been improved. And finally, having it all set in 1933 again makes it all a bit tedious. It could have been set in the late 30's or early 40's to make it look a bit unique.
But still, this is an ultimate Kong remake. It's got great effects, wonderful jungle settings, and a new and improved look for the ape himself. All three films (1933, 1976, and 2005) do have their own ups and downs, but I still like all three of them. |
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 "A little disappointed...." | 2009-10-08 |
| - Reviewed By User: A17R0FUOZEH7AS |
| I was a little disappointed that it shipped without the sleeve. I really liked the sleeve on this bluray but they shipped it naked.... |
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| "great actors, pointless film" | 2009-10-02 |
| - Reviewed By coysrwf |
"I was ready for the film to be over long before the monkey hit the pavement" With these words Laurel K Hamilton's character Anita Blake wonderfully summed up Peter Jackson's well intentioned, brilliantly re-envisioned but ultimately needless remake of King Kong.
Jackson's `Kong is more realistic using CGI in place of a rabbit fur covered stop motion animation, his natives seem more real than the dreadfully racist portrayal in the original but it is the actors that make the story work. In place of the wooden, 2 dimensional characters of the original piece Jackson presents well developed people you want to learn about. Adrian Brody as a shanghaied screen writer proves his ability with only a few words and gestures as he tries to find something good in what is clearly a bad situation.
Especially surprising is Jack Black in a serious role, as Carl Denham, the man responsible for the expedition. In the original he is the money and the vision and little more. In Jackson's version he's only a step ahead of creditors and keeping many balls in the air while trying to get the next big score. He's a con man and an artist and someone who's company you'll love, as long as you accept you're paying for the drinks.
In his Lord of the Rings trilogy Jackson proved that great film comes from the actors and the F/X are there to support them. However far too much of King Kong is made up of the special effects and while amazing to see, they bring nothing new to the party and the reliance on them gets boring. Giant nasty lizards? All I could think was "Jurassic Park" and it took too long. Who cares about CGI monsters? Give us back those wonderful characters! For me the movie dragged when they entered the island until the moment they left it.
While the chase through New York City is far more realistic, one of the great scenes in American Film is the original Kong on top of the Empire State Building. Jackson's Kong ends there too but the image, far more realistic looking, lacks the iconic imagery of the original.
In the end Jackson's respect for the original leads him to end with the same words from Denham. In the original he's a stuffed shirt who's closing declaration "T'was beauty killed the beast" is meant as a sad commentary on the beast, brought out of the heart of darkness to a far more terrible place that they all had a hand in. Jack Black's Denham almost whispers the words. For him it is a personal realization that he personally was responsible for the pain and suffering inflicted on the great being. One cannot help but wonder if Jackson, when all is said and done, could not have felt the same way about what he did.
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 "typically overdone adventure movie" | 2009-10-02 |
| - Reviewed By ohiomon |
I agree with the reviewer who said: "just because you can do something doesn't mean you should."
This movie begins well. Naomi Watts is refreshingly subtle and the other cast members seem good. The story gets a little muddled at times, but no worries, there's always the special effects to carry the movie. Ah yes, the special effects. Those ever growing special effects. Bigger and badder than Kong himself. In the beginning, they are used well to take the viewer back in time. But once the story reaches Skull Island, forget the story and any sublimity; it all gets overdone. Way overdone. But as in cooking, in a photoplay you have to know when to let up. You can't suddenly dump a bucket of chili powder in your tomato sauce to make good chili.
A light hearted adventure movie with great possibilities for scenery and reasonably fantastic creatures suddenly turns too menacing, with impossibly bleak occult and action scenes that no one would live with or through. In a lesser example, my wife and I were laughing at all the guys who stayed on the log to get shaken off by Kong in a gloriously overdone rampage. You gotta be smart to be believable. People being chased don't stay on short bridges if they can help it, especially if someone has gone to the trouble to hold the line so they can escape.
Like so many action movies today, one feels the movie makers are trying to keep up with the giant amusement parks. They need to take us to the imaginary, but also show a little restraint on the effects and keep it human, even develop the human relationships a little more to have a better balanced movie. For instance, Ann and the writer on the boat--they mutter about in a couple of short encounters and then are suddenly in love. They never have a real conversation. At least have them standing on deck, leaning on the rail and looking at the sunset and discussing his play or something. A counterpoint to the later sunset scene with Kong.
Oh well. The cast members were good and Naomi Watts was rightly cast in Fay Wray's role. |
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| "Is this Bluray King Kong the extended movie version ???" | 2009-09-13 |
| - Reviewed By User: AQD0XE6VBKGY4 |
is this Bluray - King Kong the extended movie version ???
In Singapore, King Kong bluray - Asian is extended version, but i wanna buy from Amazon... |
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| "A Great Start That Drops Everything On The Floor" | 2009-09-12 |
| - Reviewed By User: A13PTDC1W7TZDR |
(Widescreen DVD format.) This version of King Kong starts out very well with believable characters, subplots, and scripting. The story sets up several hints at interesting characters with intriguing personal stories. The one indication that the script may turn into Hollywood nonsense is Mr. Driscoll being stuck in an animal cage.
Everything else seems to be going great until the big tree trunk over the ravine. At that point, the script drops everything on the floor - characterizations, relationships, and depth - to focus on ridiculous scenes of grotesque deaths and stampeding bouncing dinosaurs (which are, in a way, hilarious in their absurdity). Resolutions of all the interesting stories set up in the beginning become moot as characters are knocked off left and right.
The sole relationship of any depth is the strange Stockholm Syndrome pseudo-romance between Ann Darrow and King Kong. Ann Darrow's on-again, off-again fascination with Kong is especially incoherent at the end of the movie. Finally, with Kong splat on the concrete, all other relationships and many loose ends are left completely dangling.
We agree with another reviewer - this is another case of focus on superficial appearance with CGI effects at the expense of completely abandoning all story depth.
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