Year: 2005
Directed By: Peter Jackson
Written By: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Peter Jackson. Original Story: Merian C. Cooper and Edgar Wallace
RYAN’S REVIEW
This was Peter Jackson’s next venture after creating the incredible and historic Lord of the Rings trilogy. No matter what he had decided to do there were going to be very big expectations. I don’t know that anything he could have possibly done could have measured up those expectations but this movie came pretty damn close. It is another epic film that runs a lot longer than anyone likes but it’s what Jackson thrives at. This movie does offer some of the most exciting action sequences you will ever see and the visual effects are spectacular. It took on the responsibility of rebuilding a Hollywood legend and it carries that legend to another level.
When Peter Jackson finished with his epic goldmine trilogy he could have done anything he wanted to. He could have chosen any project on the table but to his credit, he chose to take on a challenge. King Kong goes back to very early in the film industry being made in 1933. It had a legacy that was going to have lots of needs and expectations to fulfill when the remake was attempted. I think Jackson lived up to those expectations and even exceeded what some of us could have imagined. He had built his name making some of the biggest epic movies of all time and chose to follow up with the first epic ever made. There could not have been a better choice to helm the project of bringing back that epic that still stood significant after more than 70 years.
I think this was an incredible movie but I have never felt it was as good as it could have been. I have always thought the greatest flaw of the movie was in its cast. With a picture like this, that is going to have all the hype in the world behind it, I just really thought they should have went big with the actors they chose. The thing is, I like most of the actors in this movie but still, they could have gotten bigger people to play the part. I really like Jack Black. I think he is an incredibly talented entertainer but when this movie was made I didn’t think he was a great choice. I think he played the part well, but I really don’t think he was at the right place in his career to carry a movie this large on his shoulders. Despite this opinion, I do think he was great in the movie and I think he acted his ass off. The same goes for Adrien Brody. I like Brody despite some of his creepier movie roles over the years, but I don’t think he was a great choice to play the hero in the movie. He has proven me wrong as a hero before, specifically in Predators but I just don’t see him as a serious choice for that role. I think he is a talented actor and I don’t think he was bad in this movie but I have just never felt he was right for the part.
Naomi Watts was cast as the starlet of the film, the beautiful damsel in distress that captures the heart of the monster. I think she did an incredible job playing the part and could not say a criticizing word about her performance. I thought she showed a lot of talent and had to do so most of the time against a green screen which makes the performance even more impressive. Yet I still have the same feeling about Watts as I do about Jack Black and Adrien Brody. She did a great job but I think this movie would have been more successful had a more popular actress been cast in the part. I don’t know why I feel this way because I honestly do think she played the part to a T and did a great job.
I think the greatest role in this movie was actually the one performed by Andy Serkis. I don’t mean the part of the cook which he also played but that of King Kong. Just as he did for Peter Jackson in the Lord of the Rings trilogy as the creature Gollum; Serkis again donned the motion capture suit and performed the actions of the legendary ape. It is a talent he probably won’t be able to get enough out of because these types of roles are rare but Serkis really has a specifically awesome gift. King Kong in this movie is incredible and a lot of that has to do with the work put in by Andy Serkis. He went the extra mile studying apes and their behavior to prepare for the part and it paid off handsomely.
This movie also sported a very good supporting cast aside from the other actors I have mentioned. When this movie came out I had really high hopes for Colin Hanks. The son of the legendary actor seemed destine for great things but that just hadn’t happened yet. I had hoped that this movie would put him on that path but I was wrong. Colin Hanks has only gotten older over the years and never really stepped out of his father’s shadow to make anything significant of himself. I liked seeing him in Mad Men a few years back but by then his part in the show only reminded me of the high hopes I had for him years before. Jamie Bell has a role in this movie that I didn’t think was that great but want to mention it simply because it came off the heels of his performance in The Chumscrubber, which I really liked. I am not a fan of Kyle Chandler but he has continued to do great things despite what I think. I think he fit his part really well in this movie though and it seemed to do more for his career than anyone else’s part did.
I have always been under the impression this movie failed to live up to expectations but like I said I think the expectations were insurmountable. I may be critical of the cast myself but I don’t know that I could really be critical of the movie itself. I think the cast could have been better but they all did an incredible job in their roles. I think this movie offers some of the most incredible action sequences ever filmed. The attack of the savages, the stampede in the gorge, and Kong vs. the T-Rexes just to name a few were mind blowing and seem to get better with every viewing. What’s so awesome is that even after those mind blowing scenes are over there is still so much of the movie left, so much more action to look forward to. This movie runs way too long really, but it doesn’t stop with the intensity or the action.
This is an awesome movie and I think it packs a pay-off that makes it worth anybody’s time to see it. That says a lot given the movie runs for over three hours but I don’t think you will be disappointed investing that much time in the film. It is an epic movie and made by the master of epics. Peter Jackson really knows how to make these kinds of films and he did an excellent job with this one.
AMBER’S REVIEW
This movie is a lot of fun. It’s an adventure throughout and I usually like watching it any time I find it on television. I think the new version is a nice adaptation and has really nice visual effects.
This poster is a little boring. I think there were a ton of ways to make this more iconic and visually appealing graphically. There were tons of directions you could go and people would have automatically known what the movie was going to be. King Kong is already so iconic. The designers could have had a lot of fun with this but they lost the chance to do that. There are weird Photoshop glows everywhere too. I think it’s just sloppy. Too bad.
NEXT MOVIE: Kingpin (1996)
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