Friday, December 23, 2005

Went to see King Kong on my birthday the other day. These are my first impressions but probably not a conclusive review because, like the LOTR, this film is a visual feast that deserves a repeat viewing. This film had a little bit of everything for everyone, humor, action, love story, and even a touch of the bizarre. Found the beginning of the movie a bit too long and not particularly strong but understand Jackson was trying to develop the characters and be faithful to the 1933 version of Kong. Didn't much care for the portrayal of the natives on Skull Island. They were bizarre, to say the least, and since the film gives no background of their weirdness the viewer is left to his or her imagination. Maybe that's the point but just didn't find them particularly appealing but maybe if I had to share an island with a great ape and dinosaurs I would turn out more than a bit weird myself...anyway...the rest of the movie was fantastic. Kong is incredible and Jackson and his legion of artisans have again raised the bar on the relationship between imagination and modern technology. The action sequences between Kong and the various inhabitants of the Lost World are just amazing. Especially got off on the action sequences featuring the various insects. Gross is an appropiate description of what happens to the crew who find their way to the bottom of the jungle where the insects rule and I personally appreciate Jackson's indulging the audience with a bit of "bad taste". I found it fun but suspect some members of the audience were simply too grossed out to appreciate Jacksons wicked humor..... The relationship that develops between Kong and Naomi Watts is the centerpiece of the movie and here is where the Jackson star shines brightest. Kong and Watts are simply poetry in motion and I think it is an incredible feat by the Jackson and crew to get the audience to actually care about what happens to a creature who we all know is nothing more than a computer image. Jackson went to great lengths to humanize the Great Ape and the techicians who created Kong flexed their herculean muscles in creating the best CGI character to date...Kong Rules!!!....and.... the proof in the pudding is that the audience actually cares about what happens to Kong at the end... and... nobody wants to see Kong die because he has captured a bit of our hearts and a part of us dies as Kong free falls from the top of the Empire State building.....Don't know how this film will be remembered in the annuals of film history but Jackson deserves alot of credit for bringing Kong back to life for a new generation of young folks who grew up with little or no knowlege of the "true King" of the jungle....

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