King Kong (2005)

 

Coming off the daunting Lord of the Rings trilogy, director Peter Jackson finally got a crack at another dream project, a lavish remake of King Kong. The resulting film would be a film that was a reverent re-imagining of the 1933 classic, while expanding on the story in almost every way. The resulting film is a fantastic rendition of the original film, if more than a little long. 

Ann Darrow (played by Naomi Watts) is a down on her luck actress desperate for work after the theatre she was working in is shut down. Her fortunes change with a chance encounter with filmmaker Carl Denham (played by Jack Black), who just happened to be looking for a new star for his latest film when the current actress up and quit at the last minute. He convinces her to join them on a voyage he's chartered and star in the new film. Also along for the ride is the movie's screenwritier, Jack Driscoll (played by Adrien Brody) and the film's male lead, the self absorbed Bruce Baxter (played by Kyle Chandler). Also along for the ride is Denham's personal assistant, Preston (played by Colin Hanks), his cameraman, Herb (played by John Sumner), and soundman, Mike (played by Craig Hall). The crew of the ship includes Captain Englehorn (played by Thomas Kretschmann), First Mate Ben Hayes (played by Evan Parke), the ship's cook Lumpy (played by Andy Serkis) and the eager Jimmy (played by Jamie Bell). Once the ship has sailed, Denham announces their destination to be Skull Island. Lumpy warns Denham away from going there, telling him of stories he's heard of that island. Upon their arrival, they discover the island is desolate and surrounded by fog. Searching the island, they come across a village populated by savage, vicious natives and narrowly escape with their lives. They return to the ship but are followed by the natives who take Ann to offer to Kong. This time around, the offering of Ann to Kong is a grand spectacle full of chanting and fire as Kong (played by Andy Serkis) makes his grand entrance. Just like before, Kong takes Ann back into the jungle with Jack, who had bonded with Ann over the course of the voyage, and the rest of the crew follow in hot pursuit. Carl even lugs his camera and tripod along, hoping to get priceless footage of the mighty Kong. Along the way they face all the mighty horrors the island has to offer, including giant bugs, evolved prehistoric monsters and even Kong himself. Meanwhile, Ann is able to tame the mighty Kong and even bond with him during their time alone. When Denham's camera is destroyed and the footage exposed, he decides the best way to recoup his losses is to bring Kong himself back to New York City with them. 

Peter Jackson directed the film from a script he co-wrote with Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boyens. The film itself has a lot of reverence for the original 1933 film while also fleshing out the story, giving us more background on the main characters as well as giving more screen time to some of the crew members of the SS Venture, especially Jimmy and Ben. The film has top notch special effects, which is clear from the get go with a flawless recreation of 1930s New York City. But special notice has to go to this film's depiction of Kong, achieved through performance capture technology performed by Andy Serkis. For this first time, Kong really is a giant Gorilla and the effects are flawless as we get a Kong that is more expressive and relatable as ever. It truly is a wonder to behold. The cinematography by Andrew Lesnie is quite impressive from the bright and colorful New York City to the nightmarish Skull Island and back again. I also have to give credit to James Newton Howard for this fantastic score for the film and the way the score changes from when the film is in New York in the opening and everything seems so bright and optimistic and then slowly changes as the film goes on. 

Jackson assembled a dynamite cast for the film. Naomi Watts is quite impressive as Ann Darrow as she fleshes out the character, but also for having to spend large portions of the movie playing off a character that wasn't there and doing it all convincingly. Whether it is her initial attempts to charm and tame Kong with her Vaudeville routines or her desperate attempts to save Kong at the climax at the Empire State Building, she is fantastic. Jack Black stretches outside his usual goofball routine as the ambitious and driven Carl Denham, often to a frankly reckless degree. For the role, Black drew inspiration from Orson Welles and it really shows in the performance. As the film goes on and the various disasters that befall him and his crew, Black really shines as he shows Denham is really beginning to mentally unravel. Adrian Brody is is an uncharacteristically heroic role here and does quite well as Jack Driscoll, playing the romantic hero type. He has decent chemistry with Naomi Watts and the two play off one another quite well. He also proves quite adept at the more heroic elements of the film, swinging from vines or leading Kong on a car chase through the New York streets that turned out to be a highlight of the film for me. Kyle Chandler has an amusing supporting role as adventure movie star Bruce Baxter, who turns out to be more than a bit self absorbed as well as a bit of a coward. It's also amusing he's in this movie in hindsight because he is also in Godzilla: King of the Monsters and going to be in that movie's follow-up, Godzilla vs. Kong. 

Peter Jackson has crafted a fantastic remake of King Kong and his love for the original film shines through from beginning to end. The only complaint I could possibly muster for the film is the length. Clocking in at a staggering 3 hours and 8 minutes, there are times where it all feels like overkill. There is a scene where Kong is saving Ann from not one, not two, but three T-Rexes and the sequence just drags on and on with Kong taking all three on at once while literally juggling Ann, tossing her from one limb to the next. It all felt like a bit much. But at the same time, I appreciated that the film took it's time setting up the characters and built up Kong and Skull Island with enough anticipation that it really felt like an event when he finally shows up. It's still a damn near perfect movie and the best of the remakes, for sure. It just perhaps could have used a few trims here or there. Still, as it stands it is fantastic adventure entertainment of the highest order.