For starters, it has a 50% fresh audience review on Rotten Tomatoes. The critic's score is much higher, currently at almost 85%. It is really fascinating, because the critic's rating is very rarely higher than the audience, is almost never higher by such a wide margin. Secondly, no one seems to talk about it anymore. I remember it being a big deal when it first came out, and I remember seeing a lot of DVD's of it in stores, I even remember buying the DVD, but today, no one seems to remember this blockbuster. It is strange, because The Lord of the Rings is still extremely relevant, and is often discussed by movie fans. So why did the 2005 remake of the classic 1933 film get such mixed reviews? Why is it not as loved as some of Jackson's other movies? And why did people seem to forget about it? For the sake of me, I do not know. In my opinion, King Kong is a great movie. It is perfectly crafted, and it did so many things right. Here are a few reasons, why I strongly believe that King Kong is a true masterpiece.
The atmosphere.
The movie has two main settings. 1930's New York, and Skull Island. The film starts off by showing us the life of an acrobat/entertainer called Ann Darrow, played perfectly by Naomi Watts. She makes pennies of her performances, and through a twist of fortune, gets an invitation to star in a film, by an ambitious director called Carl Denham played by Jack Black. The first act of the movie revolves primarily around these two characters and takes place entirely in NY. The movie is often criticised for a very long beginning, but I think that it is absolutely essential. First of all, 1930's New York is captured beautifully. Often, it feels like you are watching a film from that Era. It manages to nail the atmosphere and suck you in right away. Personally, I loved the beginning of this movie. From the very first shot it tells you what kind of film it's going to be. Second, the long build up, makes the reveal of Skull Island and Kong himself, so much more impactful and effective. The production design is also great, and even got an Oscar nomination for best art direction. The atmosphere of Skull Island, is executed flawlessly. You really feel like you are there. Peter Jackson truly transforms you to this exotic location. It masterfully sucks you in and makes the audience connect to the characters and to the story so much more. The island is really creepy and due to the beautiful design, feels like a place that could actually exist, despite the many fantastical elements. Even though a lot of the film is shot on a green screen, I almost never felt drawn out of the movie, and often gazed at the beauty of the digital matte paintings as if they were real locations. I especially like the pink sunsets you can see on the boat. Overall, the film's visuals as well as atmosphere is done very well, and serves as a great backbone to the picture.
The characters.
This is another aspect of the film which gets criticised, though I truly believe that the criticism is stupid. It is well known, that Peter Jackson is a mega-fan of the 1933 King Kong. He geeks out about the film, often saying that it is his favourite movie of all time. The characters, are not only an homage to the original, but also an homage to that era of hollywood as a whole. They truly feel like they belong in an old black and white film. People say that Naomi Watts is a classical damsel in distress, and that Jack Black is really unlikable. BUT THAT IS THE POINT! Naomi Watts is supposed to be a damsel in distress, because almost all women of that time were damsels in distress! I think that the choices the creators of the film made about the characters were perfect. Jack Black is a little unlikable, but he plays a totally realistic character. There are filmmakers, and artists in general, who care much more about their work/recognition than about the people around them. Just like some real life directors, Carl Denham puts everyone else's life at risk, just to complete his movie and get famous. Jack Black does a great job at portraying this kind of person. I think he was the perfect casting choice for the part, and not only does he look like a fame obsessed movie director from the 30's, but he can also act like one. This is one of Black's stand out performances, and I really like him in the movie. Adrian Brody plays Ann Darrow's love interest- a playwright called Jack Driscoll.
Some say that his character is boring, but once again, I believe that this is intentional. By the end of the picture, there is a sort of weird love triangle between Kong, Darrow and Driscoll. It is not addressed as a straight up love triangle, but you can really feel it watching the movie. Normally, it would make no sense what so ever, but, because of how "boring" and "typical" the character of Driscoll is (who would be the primary love interest for any other film) the audience unwillingly starts to buy in into the relationship between the beauty and the beast. The stories that do have this type of love triangle would usually make Driscoll and abusive jerk, and make the beast a misunderstood, lovable creature, but this film really breaks this convention. The relationships are completely unique and work very well. The supporting cast is also pretty memorable. In the 1933 version, the crew of the ship is pretty forgettable. In the new film, they actually had personalities. Three crew members stand out in particular: a young sailor played by Jamie Bell, an older guy who takes care of him played by Evan Parke, and the cook played perfectly by Andy Serkis. All three characters were pretty interesting, and brought even higher emotional stakes to the movie. But, in my opinion, the entire crew falls short before the island natives. Oh my, are they scary. There is something really eerie about the village that the movie crew discovers, and as soon as they meet the natives, you understand exactly why the entire place seems so strange. These savage people are extremely creepy. They look and act menacing, and you feel scared for the characters. Props to the designers of the movie, for making these people and their culture believable. If I were to see them in a documentary, I would completely buy into the fact that somewhere out there, these indigenous people still exist. As I said, the characters in King Kong really work, and help you feel the real emotional stakes.
The creatures.
Lord of the Rings proved that Jackson can make unforgettable creatures, but this movie just takes everything to the next level. First, I will talk about the beast himself, King Kong. He was played via motion capture by Andy Serkis. There isn't much to be said about the man, because everyone knows how great he is. I thought that the title character was made extremely well, and I did believe that I was looking at a real giant gorilla. The interaction between the ape and Darrow was brilliant. As I mentioned before they had really great chemistry. I love how he has a bunch of scars on his face and body, which tells us straight away that even though he is the king of the island, he did not gain this title easily. The fight between Kong and the t-rexes is just purely awesome. I especially love when it's just Kong and one t-rex left and they start fighting for the girl. The entire sequence is really dynamic and the visuals are jaw dropping. I don't want to sing praises to the design and performance of King Kong much longer, because we all know how unbelievably great it was. I do, however want to talk about some of the other creatures on the island. I will start with the water snake. This scene was not in the theatrical release, but it was in the extended edition. Basically, the ship crew is getting across a lake and gets attacked by a huge snakelike thing. I really liked this scene, I thought that they should have kept it in the theatrical release. The creature is pretty cool, but feels pretty grounded in reality. Just like most of the other fictitious things in the movie, it still feels like it could exist somewhere far away.
But by far, the most spectacular monsters, are all the insects. Now I do not like bugs at all, and boy did some of these crawling devils freak me out. There were two scenes in particular when I clinched my teeth together and was tempted to look away because of how creepy these bugs were. In the first scene, Naomi Watts's characters crawls into a log, and confronts three oversized centipedes. I get shivers even thinking about those things. They were so disgusting and effective at disturbing the audience. The second scene, is when a couple members of the crew fall into a ditch and get attacked by a bunch of different insects. The two that particularly come to mind are crab like spiders, and these giant worms. Spiders are a Peter Jackson staple by now, and the ones in this movie are some of the best. The worms however, are so horrific. There is some really gross imagery with them. By their design they reminded me of the dirt eater worms in the third Hobbit. I think that's really where Jackson took his inspiration from, and in a way, plagiarised from himself. The main thing about all of these creatures, is how beautifully they were created. Jackson's latest work, the Hobbit trilogy, gets criticised for using CGI too much. In this film however, all the CGI makes sense. It is used a lot, but it is used very tastefully. Even though the film was made 10 years ago, almost all of the CGI truly does stand up today. There is only one scene, when Jack Black and company are running away from a bunch of dinosaurs that looks fake. Everything else, looks almost 100% realistic, and most of the time I truly believed that those things were there. I am really glad that it won an Oscar for best visual effects, because this film truly deserves it.
The ending.
This movie has so much heart. Even though it is a big budget blockbuster, it has a great message and a really strong story. All of this culminates in the ending, which is perfect. Everyone knows how King Kong ends, but the 2005 remake just takes it to a new level. I thought that the ending was beautiful, touching and very memorable. There isn't a lot I can say without spoiling the picture, but I liked the ending just as much, if not even more than the stuff on the Island. There is a particular scene that I do have to talk about though. MINOR SPOILERS. When King Kong is being presented to a live audience in a giant theatre, and the curtains open, we see the beast sitting in chains. He looks so sad and tortured. Then, the chains around his arms get pulled forcing his arms to be raised above his head. There is just something about this image that gets me every time. It is extremely sad and heartbreaking.
In conclusion, I think that King Kong is a great movie. It is one of the best monster films ever, and definitely one of the best remakes of a classical movie. I think this picture deserves much more attention, and I highly recommend it to everybody. It has interesting characters, great design, tons of heart, and really captures the essence of the 1930's lifestyles and cinema. Just like the beast himself, King Kong is truly a magnificent film.
