A washed out filmmaker named Carl Denham (Jack Black) goes against his studio's will and takes a ship to an uncharted "Skull Island" where he plans on shooting his film. After realizing the island is inhabited by a large amount of natives, the tribe kidnaps the beautiful lead actress (Naomi Watts) as a sacrifice for a 25 foot ape for whom they worship as a god. The crew aboard the ship led by the film's writer, Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody) takes a journey to rescue her and eventually captures the ape, bringing him back to 1930's Manhattan, from where he breaks loose and wreaks havoc upon New York and climbs the Empire State Building.
Director Peter Jackson was a huge fan of the original King Kong, so it is not a surprise that Jackson stayed very close to the original. This is not something that can be said for very many 1930's remakes. Another thing he did wonderfully was the special effects. Not since Jurassic Park have I seen such a wonderful adventure using CGI. The film takes a little while to get moving, but once it starts, it is a rush. The film at three and a half hours is one of the most entertaining films I have ever seen. As unrealistic as the action may be, it will still keep you entertained from scene to scene. I admit, the relationship between Ann and King Kong was quite corny at times, but you just have to look past that and enjoy the film for what it was meant to be. Peter Jackson did about as good of a job as he could have done.
The performances on the other hand could have defiantly been better. With Naomi Watts and Adrien Brody giving below-average performances, the relationship between Jack and Ann was quite unconvincing and boring. The half-hour in which Jackson focuses on their relationship is just the one major weakness of the film. They express no on-screen chemistry as well as very little on-screen chemistry between Ann and Kong. The relationships between the characters were just very unconvincing for the three and half hours the audience gives to the film. One performance did stand out though. Jack Black as Carl Denham was absolutely fantastic, proving once again the theory that Comedians are the best "serious" actors. This was also proved with Jamie Foxx in Collateral and Ray as well as Jim Carrey with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Overall, the movie was just a well done, entertaining adaptation of the classic film.
I highly recommend this film.
Director Peter Jackson was a huge fan of the original King Kong, so it is not a surprise that Jackson stayed very close to the original. This is not something that can be said for very many 1930's remakes. Another thing he did wonderfully was the special effects. Not since Jurassic Park have I seen such a wonderful adventure using CGI. The film takes a little while to get moving, but once it starts, it is a rush. The film at three and a half hours is one of the most entertaining films I have ever seen. As unrealistic as the action may be, it will still keep you entertained from scene to scene. I admit, the relationship between Ann and King Kong was quite corny at times, but you just have to look past that and enjoy the film for what it was meant to be. Peter Jackson did about as good of a job as he could have done.
The performances on the other hand could have defiantly been better. With Naomi Watts and Adrien Brody giving below-average performances, the relationship between Jack and Ann was quite unconvincing and boring. The half-hour in which Jackson focuses on their relationship is just the one major weakness of the film. They express no on-screen chemistry as well as very little on-screen chemistry between Ann and Kong. The relationships between the characters were just very unconvincing for the three and half hours the audience gives to the film. One performance did stand out though. Jack Black as Carl Denham was absolutely fantastic, proving once again the theory that Comedians are the best "serious" actors. This was also proved with Jamie Foxx in Collateral and Ray as well as Jim Carrey with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Overall, the movie was just a well done, entertaining adaptation of the classic film.
I highly recommend this film.