Return Of The King

Rarely have I been as conflicted about my feelings for a movie as I am with Peter Jackson’s KING KONG. I absolutely loved a good deal of the movie, and it contains some of the greatest scenes in the history of cinema.

On the other hand, the film is too long, with moments that shatter credibility, and is ultimately somewhat sadistic towards its title character. Everything is pushed to the limit, and the tragic elements are so expertly crafted that the film is sometimes hard to watch.

The film divides into three sections, and I will review them seperately.
First we have “The Journey” where our characters venture to Kong’s island. I didn’t mind the pace of the New York City scenes, which set everyone up, so much as the lengthy time spent on the boat. There’s little dramatic development and a few scenes (like the actor and his posters) belong on the Deleted section of the DVD.
This is the fourth time I’ve watched Naomi Watts play an aspiring actress. [MULHOLLAND DR., I (HEART) HUCKABEES and NEVER DATE AN ACTRESS. And I know she plays one in ELLIE PARKER.] I think she’s very talented and quite fearless. Sometimes there is an overt theatricality to her acting, but overall it works because you can say that’s her character.
The boat time would have been better spent developing an actual connection between Watts’ Ann Darrow and Adrian Brody’s Jack Driscoll, which only gets a tossed off scene where Ann awkwardly catches Jack shirtless in a narrow hallway. Brody is okay, but for how important his character ultimately is, he is really underdeveloped.
Most of the first hour focuses on Jack Black’s Carl Denham, who may be the most energetic and eye-catching passenger, but we understand him completely before we even get on the ship, so the extra scenes are not necessary. Overall, the first hour is mildly passable.

The initial Skull Island scenes are awkwardly plotted, with people embarking and disembarking repeatedly. I don’t want to divulge why they do this, but once you see it perhaps you’ll agree that events could have been combined to move things along faster.

The next section, “The Island Adventure” is my favorite of the three. For about an hour, Jackson bombards the screen, cutting between the search for Ann and Kong protecting her from all sorts of danger, while developing the bond with her that Brody never got to do.

Not everything works here either. Ann is tossed around so fiercely it’s impossible to believe she wouldn’t pass out, throw up, or have her bones snapped. And I have a big problem with a moment where someone who’s never fired a weapon shoots a person covered with bugs and only the bugs are hit.
The best shot of the movie has Ann hiding from a giant Rex by laying flat against the ground. The rest I refuse to spoil, but Jackson is obviously having the time of his life. It’s also evident in the creature designs and the moment when Ann encounters a couple of large centipedes. The non-stop adventure contains the year’s best action, best special effects and more brilliance than you can catch in one viewing. The “vines” sequence is the best scene of the year.
There needs to be a special award for the creation of Kong and the work of Andy Serkis, who physically brought Kong to life (and plays the ship’s cook.) They work is groundbreaking, and Serkis’ expressions give Kong real soul.
And it nags me that I’m not sure this was a good idea. See, in the previous films, Kong was a big angry monkey that needed to be put down. This is the first lovable portrayal of Kong, which works great in the relationship with Ann but makes the final hour of the movie as much fun as seeing your pet die in front of you.
The film’s final section is highly effective. Jackson creates an epic, grand tragedy. From the moment Jack and Ann meet again, I realized that a happy ending was impossible and the real moment where things turned tragic actually happened a while ago. The rest of the film is the humiliation and destruction of a confused animal.
All through the “New York” sequence, I kept thinking, “Kong doesn’t know what he’s doing.” I tried to focus on the remarkable effects; the spectacle but there’s no joy in watching Kong tear apart the city. And like the rest of the movie, Jackson is relentless. That much tragedy I think is too much to bear, and the final set piece in particular I just wanted to be over. The vicious attack on Kong goes on so long, it borders on cruel. I don’t care how well shot it is.

Within the grim New York sequence there are two upbeat moments and if Peter Jackson gets a directing nomination, these are the scenes that will put him there. Both moments are quiet, highly emotional and shot very poetically. Easily my favorite part of the final hour.

I’m still without a solution. How do you recommend a film where the first third is too dull and the middle third is the best time you could ever have at the movies? The final third is too grim, but that’s kind of what a tragedy is supposed to do. (TITANIC’s tragedy worked better because we knew Rose survived and we didn’t know the fate of Jack until the last 15 minutes.) This is easily one of the year’s best films, but Jackson made his monkey a bit too lovable, turning a grand epic adventure into an emotional endurance test.