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Larger than life and twice as long as the original film
Peter Jackson’s remake of “King Kong” is an example of remaking
a film the right way—Jackson updates the story for a modern
audience with frequently stunning CGI effects. While the
film runs about a half hour too long Jackson fills every
frame of the film with something interesting to see. More
importantly unlike the 1976 remake with Jeff Bridges the
film isn’t campy and lacks the broader satire of that film.
Jackson takes “Kong” seriously for the most part staying
true to the spirit of the originalwhile adding in elements
that would appeal to a much more savvy 21st century audience.
The performances from the entire cast are admirable (particularly
given that they were acting to visual effects that hadn’t
been completed something not all actors can do well) and
the writing by Jackson’s frequently collaborators Fran Walsh
and Philippa Boyens (both of whom co-wrote “The Lord of
the Rings” trilogy with Jackson) provides solid dialogue
and characters (with two curious exceptions) that the audience
can identify with. ***
Ambitious film producer Carl Denham (Jack Black) has
plans to shoot a movie on an uncharted island. With an unfinished
script by noted writer Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody) and
two solid leads ready for the adventure of a lifetime Denham
finds his chance at the big time finally arriving. The only
problem are Denham’s financial backers who want to pull
the plug on his latest venture. To make matters worse Denham
loses his leading lady forcing him to find a new one the
day he’s sailing. Denham finds starvingactress Ann Darrow
(Naomi Watts) and tricks Driscoll to stay on his ship long
enough for them to sail out of port also eluding his financial
backers who were going to have him arrested. Denham arrives
at the mystical Skull Island and is stranded along with
the crew when the ship runs aground on the reefs surrounding
the island. ***
The island natives kidnap Darrow and give her to their
god—Kong a giant silverback gorilla five times the size
of any man. Denham, Driscoll and the crew brave the dangers
of the prehistoric island to try and save Darrow. Denham
has his own plans for his disastrous trip—he plans on bringing
back Kong to New York and make millions. ***
While “Kong” hits most of the right notes Jackson curiously
also hits some wrong ones as well. As I mentioned previously
the film runs a bit too long. The original Kong ran around
100 minutes nearly half the time of this remake. While much
of that time is spent on fabulous set pieces such as a dinosaur
stampede much of it could also have been trimmed back without
hurting the film. Additionally, the subplot involving the
first mate and his charge Jimmy is clichéd and laughably
bad. Nevertheless, the stunning visuals and recreation of
New York in 1933 make the film memorable enough to overlook
these minor flaws. ---
Image & Sound:
Presented in its theatrical aspect ratio (there is
no 2 disc edition in full screen)“Kong” looks marvelous
in this two disc set. “Kong” features a robust transfer
with bright vivid colors where appropriate particularly
during the sequence set among the foliage of Skull Island.
Sharpness and clarity are very good although the film probably
would have benefited from being spread across two discs
allowing a much higher bit rate. The bit rate though is
respectable and it certainly doesn’t hurt the image quality
of the film. The 5.1 audio imagery is well placed and utilized
well in this mix for home video. Dialogue comes across clearly
and the music booms out of the speakers where appropriate.
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