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December 23, 2005

King Kong

Coming out of King Kong, I'm left knowing two things: Peter Jackson really needs to find a film editor he can trust (3 hours, 7 minutes running time), and whether he finds one or not, the man is one Hell of a filmmaker. Like a lot of people, I don't think I ever actually saw all of either of the first two Kong films, either the technical masterpiece of the stop-motion original or the modernized DeLaurentis version, at least not in their entirety. But I was quite familiar with the basics of the plot: men come to undiscovered tropical island, find savages who sacrifice the crew's lone attractive blonde to Kong, and the crew must rescue the blonde and capture Kong to bring him back to New York. Nothing particularly exciting or original there at first glance.

Jackson takes that framework and makes it work, however. Jack Black is marvelous as a movie producer looking for his big break who suckers everyone else into following him to the happy-sounding Skull Island. Naomi Watts is, of course, lovely, but she's also talented and convincing as a down-on-her-luck actress who joins the cast out of the strongest of convictions: she needs the money. Adrien Brody is a delight as the screenwriter who is shanghaied into supporting Black's production, and Kyle Chandler is a hoot as the romantic leading man who may play a hero in the talkies, but who has no intention of reprising the role in real life.

The film's beginning quickly introduces us to the cast and sets the film on its way to Skull Island in a way that, while somewhat silly, is not wholly unbelievable and is wholly fun to watch. As is to be expected, the film really takes off when they reach the island, and to Jackson's credit the crew act in a quite believable manner as they discover the dark secrets of the island. The film could have been trimmed here, as Kong gets to know Watts and the crew risks the horrors of the island to rescue her, but it does move right along and doesn't feel as long as it is, so the decision not to cut more is not fatal to the film. The modern Kong (and the other beasts) are quite realistic in appearance, a requirement in this day of top-notch special effects. But, while there are plenty of fun action scenes to watch, Jackson wisely centers the film on the relationships of the cast with one another and with Kong, making the film much more than a simple creature feature. The climactic scenes atop the Empire State Building between Kong and Watts are heart-rending to watch, finishing the film with a quite-satisfying bang that tops a marvelous build-up.

Understand that if you go to see Kong, you're giving up a big chunk of your day to the movies. But, unusually for today's movies, Kong is well-worth the time.