Buy the DVD:

King Kong

Peter Jackson’s “King Kong” builds slowly, but when the action starts on Skull Island, it doesn’t let up.

Jackson’s fondness for the source material – Merian C. Cooper’s 1933 “King Kong” – is evident throughout. Fans of the original will recognize certain shots, snippets of dialogue and even the theatre marquee on Broadway.

The remake does feature more back-story – we see why Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) is down on her luck, why it’s so important that Carl Denham (Jack Black) bring something back from this voyage – and Ann’s love interest, Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody), is the screenwriter, not the Venture’s first mate. The three-hour plus running time lets us get to know several other characters shipboard, including new first mate Hayes (Evan Parke), Lumpy the cook (Andy Serkis, when he wasn’t doing motion capture for Kong), Jimmy the deck hand (Jamie Bell), and Ann’s co-star Bruce Baxter (Kyle Chandler). It also allows for dramatic and expanded dinosaur encounters on Skull Island, and several touching and humorous scenes between Ann and Kong.

The love story between Ann and Jack is awkward and somewhat unresolved at film’s end, and Black’s Denham is less the showman, more the con artist, than Robert Armstrong’s 1933 Denham. A couple of scenes here and there drag a bit and could have been trimmed with no great loss. The visual effects are spotty – some are amazing, others obvious – but no more so than most films nowadays. For the most part, “Kong” really moves – and moves the audience, as well.

Written by: Auriette Lindsey

Reviewers Rating: 9
Reader's Rating: 8.50
Reader's Votes: 2

Rate It