This will be a rather short review for a rather long movie.
It will also sound very negative, but I did appreciate what Peter Jackson did with KING KONG. I guess I was just disappointed, after seeing what he was capable of with the Lord Of The Rings trilogy.
Naomi Watts is absolutely luminous as Ann Darrow, the starlet who becomes both captive and protector of the enormous gorilla. Really, she’s just perfect here. Adrien Brody is very good as the screenwriter turned unlikely adventure hero. Colin Hanks is very good as the production assistant with a conscience who knows wrong from right.
Jack Black remains a nuisance. He’s the most reigned in here than I’ve ever seen him, but he still annoyed me. There’s just some facial expressions he has that I already associate with his usually zany self. He wasn’t terrible, but I’m sure a better actor could have had the pivotal role of Carl Denham.
Andy Serkis is the star of the show. Not only is he great as Lumpy, a ship hand, but he IS King Kong, through the magic of the newfangled computer special effects. I have to say though, one of his death scenes was just stupid. I know that seems like a spoiler, but come on, it’s not that big of a deal!
The story itself is a combination Beauty & The Beast and The Evil That Men Do. I don’t know how close to the original the remake is, but I think the main themes are the same. This creature isn’t really “the bad guy”, but it is a beast and it does beastly things. However, this movie emphasized to me my general hatred for my fellow man, because basically all the “evil” presented in this film is based on a very human quality, greed. Fucking humans. We suck.
Anyway, Peter Jackson did his best, and at times, King Kong is amazing. There truly is some greatness here. But I also felt very let down by some of the CGI. I guess I just expected too much from this creative New Zealander!
I've heard some complaints about the running time (3 hours, 7 minutes), and the first 45 minutes or so that are all King Kong-less, but I didn’t have a problem with any of that. In fact, I felt the movie did a good job of establishing the main characters as real people before the “adventure” begins.
I can’t say I didn’t enjoy King Kong, I did.
I guess I just expected more.