Movie Review: King Kong (2005)
There is no getting around it. King Kong is a very long movie. My butt fell asleep while I was watching. At one point in the movie, one of the characters references Conrad's Heart of Darkness. At the time, it seemed especially apropos considering that until this point I felt like I was on a slow-boat to China. Were ... we ... ever ... going ... to ... get ... there?
The story begins in 1920's New York. Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) is a good-hearted vaudevillian whose theater is shut down. Carl Hemsky (Jack Black) is a fraudulent movie producer who needs an actress fast for his movie as he has to flee the city ahead of his creditors. Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody) is a noted writer who is producing the screenplay for Carl's movie. On the voyage, Jack falls for Ann.
The voyage ends as the ship washes on to Skull Island. The initial foray onto the island proves disastrous as they run into a tribe of savages and their subsequent escape from the island is foiled when one of the savages sneaks on board the boat and kidnaps Ann. Ann is set to be sacrificed to Kong but she manages to charm him enough to avoid death. Meanwhile the men come back to the island attempting to rescue her from certain doom. Eventually she is rescued and Kong is captured and the scene shifts back to New York.
The relationship between Ann and Kong is nicely developed, but the relationship between Ann and Jack is not developed as well. Jack is given plenty to do, but he never quite emerges from the shadow of the big ape. As such the romance rings false. Other peripheral characters are given time to emerge from their stereotypes so it's not a question of bad writing. The CGI is well-done and there are a number of stand out sequences.
I enjoyed the movie and I'd recommend it to my friends, but I'd also recommend some judicious fast forwarding through the initial boat trip.
The story begins in 1920's New York. Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) is a good-hearted vaudevillian whose theater is shut down. Carl Hemsky (Jack Black) is a fraudulent movie producer who needs an actress fast for his movie as he has to flee the city ahead of his creditors. Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody) is a noted writer who is producing the screenplay for Carl's movie. On the voyage, Jack falls for Ann.
The voyage ends as the ship washes on to Skull Island. The initial foray onto the island proves disastrous as they run into a tribe of savages and their subsequent escape from the island is foiled when one of the savages sneaks on board the boat and kidnaps Ann. Ann is set to be sacrificed to Kong but she manages to charm him enough to avoid death. Meanwhile the men come back to the island attempting to rescue her from certain doom. Eventually she is rescued and Kong is captured and the scene shifts back to New York.
The relationship between Ann and Kong is nicely developed, but the relationship between Ann and Jack is not developed as well. Jack is given plenty to do, but he never quite emerges from the shadow of the big ape. As such the romance rings false. Other peripheral characters are given time to emerge from their stereotypes so it's not a question of bad writing. The CGI is well-done and there are a number of stand out sequences.
I enjoyed the movie and I'd recommend it to my friends, but I'd also recommend some judicious fast forwarding through the initial boat trip.
posted by mypetrock at 9:06 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home