The new King Kong

Well, I went and saw the new King Kong film, although I was torn between seeing that, Narnia, and Aeon Flux. Tne new Kong is Peter Jackson's retelling of the original King Kong movie from 1933. In this retelling, Carl Denham (Jack Black) is a film maker whose time is running out. He comes upon a map, although we don't know how, of an unknown island where he decides to make his next film. Before he sets off, he comes upon the beautiful Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) and decides to make her the star. En route to the island, Ann falls in love with the writer, Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody). He fancies her, but is too shy to tell her.

Once they reach the island, Ann is captured and offered up to Kong as a sacrafice. Taken by her beauty and charms, Kong decides not to kill Ann, but cannot let her go. He is overtaken by her. She tries to escape, only to run into other creatures living on the island (think Jurassic Park here), but Kong saves her. In the original movie, Ann feared Kong. In this movie, she sees a softer side of the beast and starts to pity him.

She is eventually rescued by Driscoll, and taken back to the ship. Having lost all of his video footage, Denham realizes a way to recoup his losses. He captures Kong and takes him back to New York. Kong's heart is broken, and he is sadly locked in chains. Then he is tormented by the thought of Ann and escapes in a furious search for her. He wreaks havoc on downtown until Ann shows up. Being with her calms him until the military shows up. Then he moves to protect her, trying to squeeze every last minute out of their time together. Ann weaps for the giant ape as he is slowly killed by military fire.

I did not go to this movie expecting some extremely realistic telling of a fantastic monster story. This is Hollywood, after all. But I was impressed with the emotional side of Kong that was portrayed, and of the more complex relationship between the beauty and the beast that was created. And the fight sequences on Skull island were pretty intense.

Regarding the special effects, there were times when the realism was astounding, and others scenes where it was obvious that Ann and the ape had been overlayed. Of course, this movie (like most that come out of Hollywood) is filled with impossible scenes like men outrunning raptors, and other ridiculous parts, but that is only expected in a movie like this. I definitely enjoyed it and can't wait for the DVD.