King Kong (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
by Peter Jackson
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Actor: Adrien Brody, Colin Hanks, Jack Black, Naomi Watts, Thomas KretschmannDirector: Peter Jackson
Brand: NBC Universal
Writer: Peter Jackson
Producer: Annette Wullems
Producer: Carolynne Cunningham
Writer: Edgar Wallace
Writer: Fran Walsh
Writer: Merian C. Cooper
Writer: Philippa Boyens
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 187 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-03-28
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Universal
DVD Reviews of King Kong (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
DVD Review: Pretty Good Stuff
Summary: 3 Stars
Because Peter Jackson is such a fan of KING KONG '33, his 2005 remake is tough to separate from the original. And because I know the old film very well, it's tough for me, too.
To begin with, I feel that Jackson's KONG is too long. If it were up to me, I would cut about 45 minutes out of it easily. However, the special effects are (mostly) great, though I feel that JURASSIC PARK (1993) is still better in this regard.
I think the effects depicting Kong himself are very well done. Kong as a character is well conceived here, too, with some silver hair and battle scars. Given these positives, it's a shame that, for me, a lot of the film doesn't live up to them.
*WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD!*
Jackson opens the film with titles in the '33 style, then does a 1930's montage (Hoovervilles, bread lines, etc.) to educate today's audience about the period; these are flawless recreations, but go on too long for me. He then introduces Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts--good in the role) as a struggling actress.
Filmmaker Carl Denham is later introduced as a ne'er-do-well con-artist in the Orson Welles mold (put six inches and a cheesy moustache on Jack Black--good in the part, BTW--and he'd be a ringer for Welles, c. 1942). Always on the make, he meets Ann as she contemplates employment at a strip joint, and sets sail on The Venture for parts unknown (Skull Island) before he can be arrested for absconding with studio funds. Trapped on board is Jack Driscoll (Adrian Brody), in this version a playwright and reluctant Denham partner (Brody is not bad in the part, but I feel he's not given much of a character to work with).
The Venture's Captain Englehorn is a 40-ish, shady German; his first-mate is a strapping African-American guy named Hayes, who mentors teen crewmember Jimmy, a troubled youth (I feel that much of this sub-plot could be cut). Bruce Baxter, a preening male actor, also goes on the voyage. It's fully 45 minutes before The Venture crashes on the rocks of skull island--after Denham has been educated by Hayes and the English cook Lumpy about its history (in this version, he has the map to the island, but knows nothing of Kong).
The natives they find on Skull Island are horrific--pierced, red-eyed, savage--and they kill some of the landing party (Englehorn saves Denham with his Lugar!). But here, I feel that the logical problems in the film begin--we never see their civilization. The gigantic wall is a ruin, and where the natives are encountered is a barren wasteland--exactly what is this wall protecting? These scenes are also filmed like a Sting music video from 1985, I'm guessing to underscore the action; I personally found that to be annoying, but your opinion may differ.
Ann is kidnapped by the natives in a way even more illogical than in '33 (a native on a huge pole vault [!] Spidermans his way onto the ship and drags her off), and a terrifying female witchdoctor leads the ceremony sacrificing Ann. Ann is strapped into what looks like a giant slingshot and is semi-catapulted across a ravine to await Kong. When the big guy shows up, it's a whole lot like the 1976 Dino DeLaurentis version (not the last allusion Jackson makes to that film).
Denham and the boys set out after Kong, though Denham is seen cranking his camera rather than leading the party (at times, I feel this is taken to ridiculous extremes, especially when he's on the log bridge while Kong is shaking it). The guys (mostly) survive a brontosaurus/raptor stampede (these scenes have a cartoon feel for me, though others might disagree), and the log bridge scene features more creepy bugs than I think would be logically possible (overall, however, it is effective). Jimmy machine-guns a ton of the slimy critters off Driscoll at close range--ridiculous, in my view. Miraculously, Englehorn and Baxter arrive just in time (again) to save Denham.
In KONG '33, the giant ape's battle with a T-Rex is a highlight (and an inspiration for many filmmakers, including Steven Spielberg). Because it's the 21st Century now ("been there, done that"), Kong here--Ann in hand--fights three V-Rex's at once, falling off a cliff in the process and battling them in the hanging vines as they Wiley-Coyote their way to the bottom. These scenes are Nintendo fast, with sweeping camera, and, as such, are both exciting and annoying--I couldn't catch all that was going on (plus, they're so over the top logically that there's no credibility--and that's saying something, considering we're talking about a film featuring a 25-foot ape). Anyway, Kong finishes the last one off on the ground in '33 style--in my opinion, the best part of the film (here, Jackson tones down the Sly Cooper imagery, allowing for a long shot or two, which helped me orient the action).
In a throwback to the '76 version, Ann begins talking with and entertaining Kong (though, unlike the '76 version, there's nothing sexual implied). These parts are bad in my opinion, and I'd cut them. Then, Driscoll appears out of nowhere (in '33, we saw him tracking Kong) and--while Kong battles huge bats [!]--the playwright and Ann make their escape by (at first) climbing down a vine, then GRABBING THE FEET OF A BAT and hang-gliding to the river below (this is absolutely the worst thing in the film).
Like the Denham character Fred Wilson in '76, Denham risks the lives of everybody to capture Kong. The natives have strangely disappeared (to where?); it's only what's left of The Venture crew behind the wall. Kong's rampage once he gets through the gate is good, though illogic strikes again when Englehorn shoots him in the leg with a harpoon gun and cripples him (since Kong's brushed off at least three V-Rex bites FLUSH ON HIS ARMS--which would surely cause more damage--I'm not sure why this harpoon thing threatens him so much). Ann does the, "No, don't kill him!" routine, and tries to get off the lifeboat to protect him (awful). Denham hits the big guy in the face with a bottle of chloroform, puts him to sleep, does the "we're millionaires, boys" speech, and, like '33, we're suddenly in NYC on Broadway.
As in the '76 version, Ann and Jack boycott the event (he opens his play off-Broadway, she acts in a review across town). Denham has Baxter and an un-named actress sub for them. At this point, Jackson does an interesting homage to Kong '33 by having the on-screen orchestra in the film play a variety of snippets from the original score--which, unfortunately, points up how lacking in drama the score for HIS film is (also, on stage, they recreate the '33 natives and their dance--interesting).
Wanting to see Ann, Driscoll shows up at Kong's NY unveiling--and, like in '33, the photographers fire away, enraging Kong. He escapes (a good scene), gets loose, and throws cars around (okay--but, again, Nintendo). He's chasing Driscoll in a cab and about to kill him, when Ann appears in the street (her hair highlighted in a halo) and calms him down. He takes her through ice-covered Central Park (complete with decorated trees for Xmas--did they do that in 1933?), and, in an infamous scene, plays on the ice with her until the army starts firing missiles at him (all of this really should have been cut, in my opinion). He then climbs the Empire State Building--very effective--and sits up there with Ann as the sun rises (absurd).
Six planes arrive with no warning, and Kong goes 'way on top of the building to battle them. There are some terrific shots here, though Ann--absurdly, like Dwan in KONG '76--tries to stop the planes from killing him (she apparently has NO FEAR of heights, and--in spite of what must be BRUTAL COLD UP THERE--doesn't shiver once in her party dress as she Indiana Jonses from perch to perch). In some spectacular images, Kong knocks out three of the planes before they get to him, though he has to take time out from the fight to catch Ann when a ladder comes loose from the side of the building (I get the feeling he could have beaten the planes if he didn't have to worry about her).
When he finally begins to die, Ann's right on top of the building with him (in high heels, no less), and, as he falters, they stare at each other face to face, sharing a tender goodbye before he slips off (absurd in my view, though most critics don't agree). Driscoll then appears and hugs her RIGHT ON THE PINNACLE--apparently, this exchange of affection is more important than getting the hell DOWN from there.
In Dino style, photographers stand on the dead Kong's chest for photos, Denham delivers the famous beauty-killed-beast line (but since he's been presented as such a con man and liar, I'm not sure why we should consider it to be profound, coming from him), and the film comes to an end.
Overall, I found KONG '05 to be slow in spots, 'way overdone in others, and absurd in several.
However, there are enough good things in the film to make me glad I saw it.
Compared with KONG '33, it's better and it isn't. Obviously, the effects are far better--though, again, I still feel they're inferior to JURASSIC PARK. I find KONG '33 to be unintentionally funny in spots--the brontosaurus attack for example (and the jerky stop-motion effects take some getting used-to these days)--but once Kong tangles with the T-Rex, things get good and stay good. Denham, Ann, and Driscoll all make sense in '33, and I have to give the makers of the original a lot of points for coming up with all of this in the first place.
In my view, what Jackson did to Denham in the remake is a crime, and though Ann '33 screamed too much, her "save-the-animal" sensibility here seems forced, maudlin, and anachronistic (I have to admit, though, that I have no idea how I'd react if I were a gorgeous blonde plaything for a giant ape). Too, the story MOVED in '33, and the music underscored the drama (a lot of illogical things weren't obvious because of the pace). In my opinion, Jackson has bogged the story down with unnecessary characters and motivations, and the musical score is nothing special.
Stylistically, however, I think Jackson's KONG is gorgeous, though as I've mentioned, there are annoying (to me) music video/video game sections. In short, Jackson and company have made a good film. Had they stuck closer to the '33 script with modern-day effects, I think it would have been great. But I'll be buying the DVD from Amazon, no doubt.
Description of King Kong (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
Experience King Kong as never before in this exclusive 2-Disc Special Edition! See the larger-than-life film, plus, watch three-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson take you behind the scenes of this epic adventure. Thrilling, in-depth featurettes reveal the genius behind the creation of this timeless story. Starring: Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody, Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Thomas Kretschmann, Colin Hanks Directed by: Peter JacksonBestsellers in DVD
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