Peter Jackson is one of the few filmmakers who truly understands how to marry spectacle and emotion. In his remake of the 1933 epic 'King Kong', Jackson proves himself an unbeatable showman with the soul of a poet.
An opening montage introduces us to New York in The Great Depression, a time when former stockbrokers foraged in bins for half-eaten apples and a vaudeville actress like Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) might have to work as a painted lady in a burlesque if she is not to starve. She is spotted on the doorstep of her damnation by film producer Carl Denham (Jack Black). A corrupt cherubim sucking on bottles of whiskey for comfort, Denham has a devouring ambition that chows down on talent and money alike, and it is this drive to get his film made that lands him, Ann and writer Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody) on a boat to remote Skull Island, the last unmapped spot on the face of the Earth. Before we get to Skull Island, the filmmakers stick to an intriguing, deliberate pacing, giving each character in the ensemble their grace notes, confident that as soon as the boat is drawn into the fog-bound hellhole, we will be spellbound. Sure enough, no sooner does the crew land on the island than the pure spectacle is unleashed - a cavalcade of thrilling sequences that includes the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch a Brontosaurus tumble off a cliff, and a brawl between King Kong and three Tyrannosaurs that sets a new benchmark for computer generated fight sequences. Throw in some enormous leeches and thousands of hectic creepy-crawlies, their moments of terror all masterfully choreographed by director Peter Jackson, and you have the meat of a rollicking B-movie.
The most arresting spectacle is the 30-foot-tall gorilla – the titular King Kong himself with a nasty disposition and a certain fondness for Ann. Kong is a miraculous feat of CGI wizardry, integrating seamlessly with his live action co-stars. Andy Serkis - a pioneer in the realm of motion capture performance - makes Kong's movements perfectly apelike, but there is just enough of an element of humanity to him. He feels real and he really feels.
Where the movie succeeds so brilliantly is by managing to treat the original material with respect without being overly reverent. The basic story is in place but Peter Jackson is not afraid to delve deeper into the characters in order to get the most out of the movie. The story is pure pulp and it is not difficult to find half a dozen plot holes. Yet, Jackson treats it with the utmost veneration and makes you believe by caring so much, it's contagious! He crafts and composes his action sequences like symphonies, with the most eye-popping crescendos. He also treats the romance between the beauty and the beast with so much love that you are left awestruck as you watch Kong's unreconstructed machismo rubs up against her feminine defiance to amusing effect.
This could well be called Peter Jackson's "Return of the Kong"!
An opening montage introduces us to New York in The Great Depression, a time when former stockbrokers foraged in bins for half-eaten apples and a vaudeville actress like Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) might have to work as a painted lady in a burlesque if she is not to starve. She is spotted on the doorstep of her damnation by film producer Carl Denham (Jack Black). A corrupt cherubim sucking on bottles of whiskey for comfort, Denham has a devouring ambition that chows down on talent and money alike, and it is this drive to get his film made that lands him, Ann and writer Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody) on a boat to remote Skull Island, the last unmapped spot on the face of the Earth. Before we get to Skull Island, the filmmakers stick to an intriguing, deliberate pacing, giving each character in the ensemble their grace notes, confident that as soon as the boat is drawn into the fog-bound hellhole, we will be spellbound. Sure enough, no sooner does the crew land on the island than the pure spectacle is unleashed - a cavalcade of thrilling sequences that includes the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch a Brontosaurus tumble off a cliff, and a brawl between King Kong and three Tyrannosaurs that sets a new benchmark for computer generated fight sequences. Throw in some enormous leeches and thousands of hectic creepy-crawlies, their moments of terror all masterfully choreographed by director Peter Jackson, and you have the meat of a rollicking B-movie.
The most arresting spectacle is the 30-foot-tall gorilla – the titular King Kong himself with a nasty disposition and a certain fondness for Ann. Kong is a miraculous feat of CGI wizardry, integrating seamlessly with his live action co-stars. Andy Serkis - a pioneer in the realm of motion capture performance - makes Kong's movements perfectly apelike, but there is just enough of an element of humanity to him. He feels real and he really feels.
Where the movie succeeds so brilliantly is by managing to treat the original material with respect without being overly reverent. The basic story is in place but Peter Jackson is not afraid to delve deeper into the characters in order to get the most out of the movie. The story is pure pulp and it is not difficult to find half a dozen plot holes. Yet, Jackson treats it with the utmost veneration and makes you believe by caring so much, it's contagious! He crafts and composes his action sequences like symphonies, with the most eye-popping crescendos. He also treats the romance between the beauty and the beast with so much love that you are left awestruck as you watch Kong's unreconstructed machismo rubs up against her feminine defiance to amusing effect.
This could well be called Peter Jackson's "Return of the Kong"!