Okay, it took me quite a while to see this movie (and even then it was under less-than-optimal conditions), but finally Mod-Blog can venture an opinion on Peter Jackson's King Kong. I thought I would NEVER say this about a Peter Jackson film, but this time it is inevitable - IT IS WAY TOO LONG. "WHAT?!" I can hear many saying, "Is this the same guy who recommends the Extended Edition LOTR DVDs? Is this the man who LOVES Lawrence of Arabia and feels that maybe Braveheart was a bit too short? Is this the guy who can sit thru all the Star Wars movies without a bathroom break?!" Yes. Yes, it is the same guy. I have no problem sitting thru long films - heck, when I'm home sick I often watch an entire season of a show like Firefly or Star Trek: DS9 over the course of a day. But there is one major difference with PJ's Kong - It is simply NOT a deep movie that warrants a 3-hour commitment.
Let us review the plot. Movie producer wants big film. Funding people want to pull the plug. Movie producer snatches up a writer, a pretty female star, and heads out to a mysterious island to shoot the movie. Movie interrupted by arrival of big ape. Big ape kidnaps girl. Girl rescued, ape captured. Ape put on display in NYC. Ape goes… well… "ape," and climbs the Empire State Building. Ape gets offed by Al Capone in a big musical number.
Oops, that last part might be a bit off. I might have nodded off toward the end.
Anyway, anyone who has seen the original film, or any of the THOUSAND parodies (a hundred of them on the Simpsons), knows what to expect. This is not King Lear, it is an American version of Godzilla. Big monster smashes things, turns out it is our fault, we feel bad but the big guy dies anyway. A proro-typical popcorn movie that usually comes out July 4th. 90 minutes, in and out, a few laughs, a few tears, and just enough escapism to let you forget the 9-to-5 job for a few minutes. Instead, Jackson has tried to do to KONG what he did to Lord of the Rings. The first hour is not about the Big Guy, but about all of the little characters that get us TO the Ape. The Film Producer, The Writer, the Shallow Actor, the Gritty Captain, etc. Lots of words, lots of talk, but in the end what does it matter? There are only two characters in this film who are anything more than plot devices - Kong and Ann Darrow. And the moments between those two are done wonderfully. But much time is spent trying to build up or tear down the other secondary characters, to the point that I simply stopped caring toward the end of the first hour. And the director never got me back, despite a second hour that included dinosaurs, explosions, and an Ape sliding around on his backside. It is no shock to me that Narnia outdid the film, despite a smaller budget, lesser FX, and a director that few of us knew before this.
Do I recommend this film? Well, if you are a fan of the original, you definitely will want to see this one. It a film by a Kong Geek, for Kong Geeks. And I am sure the effects are MUCH more powerful on the big screen, than they will be on DVDs. But don't go crazy and attend one of the expensive showings. Wait for the matinee, or until your buddy with the widescreen HD TV gets it on DVD. Hopefully, next time PJ decides to make a popcorn movie, he'll remember that is IT a popcorn movie and not an art film.
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