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Movies don't come any bigger than Peter Jackson's King Kong, a three-hour remake of the 1933 classic that marries breathtaking visual prowess with a surprising emotional depth. Expanding on the original story of the blonde beauty and the beast who falls for her, Jackson creates a movie spectacle that matches his Lord of the Rings films and even at times evokes their fantasy world while celebrating the glory of '30s Hollywood. Naomi Watts stars as Ann Darrow, a vaudeville actress down on her luck in Depression-era New York until manic filmmaker Carl Denham (a game but miscast Jack Black) entices her with a lead role. Dazzled by the genius of screenwriter Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody), Ann boards the tramp steamer S.S. Venture, which she--and most of the wary crew--believes is headed for Singapore. Denham, however, is in search of the mythic Skull Island, hoping to capture its wonders on film and make a fortune. What he didn't count on were some scary natives who find that the comely Darrow looks like prime sacrifice material for a mysterious giant creature....
There's no point in rehashing the entire plot, as every movie aficionado is more than familiar with the trajectory of King Kong; the challenge facing Jackson, his screenwriters, and the phenomenal visual-effects team was to breathe new life into an old, familiar story. To that degree, they achieve what could be best called a qualified success. Though they've assembled a crackerjack supporting cast, including Thomas Kretschmann as the Venture's hard-bitten captain and young Jamie Bell as a plucky crewman, the first third of the movie is rather labored, with too much minute detail given over to sumptuous re-creations of '30s New York and the unexciting initial leg of the Venture's sea voyage. However, once the film finds its way to Skull Island (which bears more than a passing resemblance to LOTR's Mordor), Kong turns into a dazzling movie triumph, by turns terrifying and awe-inspiring. The choreography and execution of the action set pieces--including one involving Kong and a trio of Tyrannosaurus Rexes, as well as another that could be charitably described as a bug-phobic's nightmare--is nothing short of landmark filmmaking, and a certain Mr. Spielberg should watch his back, as Kong trumps most anything that has come before it.
Despite the visual challenges of King Kong, the movie's most difficult hurdle is the budding romance between Ann and her simian soulmate. Happily, this is where Jackson unqualifiedly triumphs, as this unorthodox love story is tenderly and humorously drawn, by turns sympathetic and wondrous. Watts, whose accessibility balances out her almost otherworldly loveliness, works wonders with mere glances, and Andy Serkis, who digitally embodies Kong here much as he did Gollum in the LOTR films, breathes vibrant life into the giant star of the film without ever overplaying any emotions. The final, tragic act of the film, set mostly atop the Empire State Building, is where Kong earns its place in movie history as a work that celebrates both the technical and emotional heights that film can reach. --Mark Englehart
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King Kong: The Eighth Wonder of the World!!Jul 03, 2008 I went to see this movie four times, during its theater run and everytime I was satisfied with what was shown before me. The cast is great, the special effects are the best of any movie I've seen, and it has a great story.
This reincarnation of the 1933 classic is truelly spectacular in many ways. Naomi Watts is the perfect choice for the Ann Darrow character, and Jack Black makes a acceptable Carl Denham. Adrien Brody character I don't care for at all. The true characters of the film are the fifty foot tall gigantic gorilla Kong and Miss Ann Darrow.
I always cheer for the powerful King Kong. From his violent battle with the three V-Rex, to his final tragic battle atop the Empire State Building, to his final moments with Ann atop the gigantic building. I love the character of King Kong and I always will.
This film pays great tribute to the 1933 classic and gives a great, and entertaining show! I recommend this movie to anyone who is looking for a truelly great film with tons of action, drama, and a giant gorilla. The best film of 2005! No question about it! Kong is King!!!
Buy this movie and enjoy it!! It's worth the price and the entertainment!!! :)
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Prettier than the original, but not better.Jun 23, 2008 My favorite scene was toward the end of the movie when King is on the skating rink.
Cute and clever.
Too bad the rest of the movie wasn't.
A good remake but completely unnecessary.
The fx are good, but so what. Good fx don't make a good movie.
I loved Naomi but Adrien???
Adrien???
Not my first pick as a leading man in ANY movie.
He can act but he's not the best looking guy in Hollyweird.
As for the script?
Way too long, the whole thing with the bugs could have been cut.
The fighting T Rex's are cool, but it's kind of....been there, done that considering Jurassic Park.
KK gets knocked off the building and dies.
Big deal, I didn't shed a tear. Sorry I never did understand why her character was upset, in the original or the remake.
If some 500 foot monkey grabbed me in the middle of the jungle I wouldn't be too happy about it.
KK the remake is worth a rental if your curious.
It's not mandatory viewing and twenty years from now, when people talk about the KK, they'll be talking about the original not the remake which will be forgotten very quickly.
Coulda, ShouldaJun 14, 2008 I won't rehash territory discussed by others. The film is visually exciting, well-orchestrated, and worth watching--a good action-adventure. The good points are otherwise well-covered in other reviews here. The main point that really detracts from the film overall is the lack of coherency on the famed mysterious island. Apparently one of those territories that breed oversized and/or mutated animals, such as the radioactive waters from which the Japanese Godzilla emerged, director Jackson has no issues with mixing species and time periods on his dark island, where he has oversized centipedes cohabiting the island alongside Jurassic Park veterans (T-Rexes and so forth), while Kong of course is just a giant modern day gorilla. Why are there no other giant gorillas on the island (where's mom and dad, brother and sister?), why, for that matter, are there no other giant JUNGLE creatures, of any form, and instead, why is the island pretty well populated with all kinds of familiar DINOSAURS?! And, of all the choices of animals to bring back to "civilization", where choices include a host of these millions of years long dead dinosaurs, giant insects, never-before-seen fish, etc.--why did they choose to bring back a rather mundane, albeit giant, gorilla, of all choices? If Jackson had established some sort of believability of his island inhabitants, we would not have had these problems. He could have had one really big gorilla, amongst maybe some others of large but not gigantic stature, and thus, we could have seen why the island natives worshipped/feared Kong and none of the other animals (such as the equally fearful T-Rexes). By succumbing to big scene excitement (eye-candy--hold the sensibility), while ignoring any kind of believability issues, he reduced his chances at creating a truly magnificent movie, and ended up creating just one more in a long line of action adventures, where you are forced to leave your brains at home, and as a result, ends up not being high on the list of movies to see again. It didn't have to be this way--King Kong "coulda, shoulda" been better--why not an exciting movie that actually makes sense as well?
King Kong (2005) - The Remake that Did the Original Justice Jun 13, 2008 4.5/5 Stars
This remake of one of the most cherished films of all time wins an award for something, a minor one, but still an award and that is that it's probably the best remake of all time. Not much considering its competition, but still it's something. King Kong (2005) is certainly worth a look, but I must say some critical response to the running time of over three hours considering it could easily be two hours and still give the same level of emotion, but in the end the film manages to entertain for most of its long running time, as did Peter Jackson's previous films: the big screen adaptations of Tolkien's epic Lord of the Rings.
The plot should be familiar with most movie goers. Director finds map to island, gets a film crew and a young actress and goes to shoot a film. A hostile native tribe captures the young actress and offers her to their center of worship: a giant gorilla they have titled "Kong". The crew of the ship lands and proceeds - with state of the art weapons for the 1930s - past the gates and into the jungles of Skull Island. There prehistoric creatures aren't quite extinct and they end up in a fight for their live, while the director's schemes end up with the capture of the newly pronounced "King" Kong and ship him to New York where - as expected - more mayhem ensues.
The special effects are well done and can live up to expectations, especially the ones for Kong - not so much the dinos considering the much better dinosaurs we were shown over ten years ago in Jurassic Park. Regardless this new adaptation of a classic tale of Beauty and the Beast has a level of emotion the classic 1930s version lacked, and that is certainly worth an acknowledgement on it's on. In this film you can really care about Kong as more then a monster, but as an intelligent creature that just wants to be left alone.
The cast was selected well, me being most surprised by how well Jack Black pulled off a dramatic role because I was expecting cheesy comic relief from him throughout the film. This film is touching and incredibly visual, but it has several weaknesses. There are too many characters that they try to build up only to be killed early in the script and that wastes time (but a few extras, two in particular are well worth it). Also Peter Jackson suffers from a similar flaw he had in The Lord of the Rings films. His action sequences are just too long, just like how he'd have a two page battle from Tolkien's book and have it go on for an well over thirty minutes or add ones that weren't in the books. Americans like action, but when they drag to movie on to this point they seriously will have people checking their watches wondering how much longer this monkey will be smashing things up.
A good film that I thoroughly enjoyed and most people will, but I can't guarantee that it can hold up to repeat viewings the way The Lord of the Rings films can.
(PS: If you like the theatrical cut I highly recommend the Extended Edition. That is if you're willing to put in the time for it .)
King Kong HD-DVDJun 05, 2008 Possibly the highest video quality HD-DVD that I've seen. A definite addition to any HD-DVD collection.
based on 996 reviews
