King Kong | Review

CGI is supreme and is no match for claymation-like classic, but beast of a project loses focus in fantasy island middle-half.

A filmmaker goes off to an island in a remote spot of the globe, builds a beast and comes back to America to unveil it amongst an unsuspecting audience. Peter Jackson’s monster production resembles closely to the film’s protagonist plight and to the actual storyline. Proving that bigger doesn’t necessarily mean better, the most hyped summer movie of the year gets a holiday release and while King Kong circa 2005 is a version that certainly strengthens the original source material, it also shows that a filmmaker’s own ambition and fervor for biblical portions sometimes has its drawbacks.

Less challenging than the rapport developed between the species in Gorillas in the Mist, this allegory for the objectification of women develops the ape and hot blond girl bound a little further – there is some romance in the air and a potential love triangle in the works. Either a fun treat for Jurassic Park fans or for romance in New York aficionados, this clocks in at a demanding 180 minute count. There are so many portions that could have been cut out and for that matter, several characters who didn’t need to be in attendance, that the occasional glance at the watch does occur – and more than once.

Kudos do go to the film’s CGI – perhaps some of the best work ever created and imagined with the New York city of the 30’s and the Empire State building and the safari portions delivering the goods in the eye-candy department. Unfortunately, the green screen isn’t yet perfected – making the ‘running among dinosaurs’ sequence less threatening and more comical. The film’s first half does offer some humanity and chances to see the players act but everything comes in prepared with an episodic layout – however, its nice that Watts’ character does more than screaming and that the big ape actually weighs in on the emotional aspects of his character.

Kong contains hardly any pertinent storyline, – yet neither did the original and perhaps when adventure moments toils in dumb territory, when awesome lost world creatures get mixed with odd character motivations and when awful dialogue tops off the film’s great final climax – there is that prodding belief that trimmed down could have been fruitful, less time-consuming experience. In a decade where remakes are far too prevalent, King Kong is the audacious and ambitious retelling of a classic by a genius filmmaker who easily grasps technology and storytelling. However, in this day and age a drawn out epic that counts more on CGI experience and the obliteration of the human experience will have trouble convincing all audiences to affectionately embrace fake over real.

Rating 2.5 stars