When you think of famous cinema monsters, King Kong definitely comes to mind. First released in 1933, it was a film very different for the time and it still has an impact now. There was a sequel in 1962 with another Japanese film in 1967. American King Kong films followed in 1976 and 1986. In 2005, young director Peter Jackson after two years of finishing the successful Lord of the Rings trilogy, made another King Kong.
The film is in it's original setting in the 30's and depicts the Depression era. Theater actress Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) is out of work due to the economy. Questionable film director Carl Denham (Jack Black) with a warrant out for his arrest learns of an island called Skull Island to make a new film. After hiring Ann, they head to an island they have never seen before with strange creatures including a beast called Kong.
I enjoyed looking at the different aspects of this film including the 1930's setting and old cameras and good CGI. The film captures every aspect of the period from the cars and fashion and shows how times were quite different with economic conditions and a world war going on.
As for director Peter Jackson, he gives a meaty plot here as he usually does. Skull Island feels like an old Jurassic Park including a giant sea monster with again some great CGI. There is also a Mayan horror idea and some surprise kill scenes. Unfortunately, the main battle is all over place and you get the feeling that film was on the island too long but in spite of these flaws this is typically fine work by Jackson.
The characters here are a little complex and hard to out together. Black, who career is mostly comedic work is has different aspects to his character and at time he's got a big smirk of a villain but other times he is caring and does good and is not all bad. It is probably Jack Black's best performance up to then. Watts who has played many different characters in her career does a good job in this adventure as someone who is finding love with supporting actor Adrien Brody.
Even though it's a thick plot, of course most of the audience is most interested in seeing King Kong and this is where the special effects in the movie are the best. Even though King Kong is a dangerous creature, he is loving, fragile and hits in the heart.
This film does have a very long running time of 3 hours and 7 minutes. This is a pretty good remake but I think maybe it tries to do too much. If you took out a few scenes and ideas and tightened it up, it could have been a masterpiece.
4/5
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