|
|
| Sunday, December 18, 2005 11:36 AM |
| KONG |
 by Fëanor |
I went into this film hoping for and expecting the best movie ever. Perhaps not surprisingly, that's not what I got. King Kong is certainly a really good movie - at times incredibly thrilling, breath-taking, and moving - but the hype, the marketing, and my own expectations worked together to make it a bit anti-climactic for me.
And, of course, the movie itself has its flaws. Jackson plays some scenes a bit too earnestly at times, and what he meant to be serious comes off as ridiculous and silly. Silly is an adjective that popped into my head far too often as I was watching the film, actually. Maybe a movie of this sort can't help being a little goofy, but I don't know. As much as I love Jack Black, I don't think he belonged in the role of Denham. Sometimes he handles the character all right (usually when he's not saying anything), but I feel like a better, dramatic actor would have given us more. The best scene about Denham comes at the end, and doesn't involve Black at all; it's when Brody's character is talking about him, and he says to the director's assistant, "That's the thing you have to know about Denham - his amazing capacity to destroy everything he loves."
Another problem with the film is the questionable way that it keeps the "evil, alien savages sacrificing the beautiful blond white woman to the beast that they worship as a god" storyline. This bit was hard to avoid, as it's kind of essential to the movie, but I'd heard that Jackson tried to avoid the obvious racial implications by "zombifying" the natives; it turns out this doesn't really work all that well. They're still just your typical creepy, dangerous, primitive, dark-skinned natives croaking a creepy, inexplicable language, stabbing the white people with spears or bludgeoning them with clubs, and stealing their women.
Also, as every critic and reviewer has already said, King Kong is overlong; it takes too much time getting to the giant ape. But when it does finally get there - hoo boy. The movie is called King Kong for a reason - this is his film; he is the main and best character; the action hero, the romantic lead, the king of the monsters. He is, in fact, nothing short of an astonishing revelation. There has never been a more impressive, believable, and sympathetic computer-generated character. When his tragic doom finally comes, it's the look in his so-nearly-human eyes that pierces you to the heart and, if you are a feeling person at all, makes you weep. Adrian Brody does an excellent job in his part, but as a character, as competition for Darrow's love, and even as an actor, he simply can't stand up next to Kong. The two times that he comes to save Darrow when she has been with Kong, we wonder for some moments how she will react; whether she will curse him; whether she will go with him at all.
Interestingly enough, the reason why the final tragic doom of Kong works so well is because this film is a remake - because we know what is going to happen. If you'll forgive the comparison, the film works like an ancient Greek tragedy. When we see the Empire State Building looming in the distance, and Kong heading toward it, we feel his fate closing in on him, and dread grips our hearts. And even though I knew what was to come, I found myself gasping and gripping my chair each time he leaped dangerously through the air and scrabbled at ledges as he climbed up the building.
The action in the film is incredible, with heart-stopping fight sequences between Kong and dinosaurs; between Kong and the airplanes. Jackson doesn't pull any punches, either; Kong kills many, many people and other living things. Sometimes Jackson plays the violence for laughs, which is a little disturbing, but typical for him. And somehow, through all the blood and murder, we still find ourselves sympathizing with Kong. He is a vicious beast in love, taken away from all he has ever known, and punished for being what he is and doing what he knows. And because of him, the movie works. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jim Genzano's books on Goodreads
