King Kong (2005)

[Quorthon]

Shit, that's what Troy cost. And they were having some trouble earning back that money. They eventually did it, but it took far longer than they'd hoped. And Brad Pitt was in that monster.

[Phoenix]

Sent from my dad today about the 'buzz' on King Kong:

No other big news other than the consensus is if you're female, you hate KONG.

Could have used Brad Pitt!

I LOVE adventure movies btw Quorthon. But give me Indiana Jones anyday.

[Pulpmariachi]

I actually agree with Quorthon on lots of his points.

The movie was pretty good, but far from the EPIC MASTERPIECE, A++ movie that critics have been hailing it.

The length definitley hurts it. I personally feel that the Jimmy character should have been cut completely. He didn't really have a point and just got me annoyed and ticked, especially because he was a CLICHE. The stowaway boy who sneaks onto the island and breaks out when his mentor gets it?? Please.

While it was cool to see dinosaurs again these ones just looked too fake. I mean, I thought the raptors in Jurassic Park III were pretty shitty looking, but these raptors were just...UGH. The dinosaurs didn't even look real or fairy-tale like. They just screamed "HEY LOOK WE'RE CGI!!!!!!!"

Some Jackson aspects also annoy me. Not forgetting his overuse and overdepence on CGI (which he uses as a crutch) and CGI camerawork (not as much present here as in Lord of the Rings, and I hate CGI camerawork), he overuses slowmotion. Every other shot is in slow-mo, so much that it wears out its effect pretty early on.

S
(pound)
K
(pound)
U
(pound, cut to pointless character reaction shot)
L
(pound)
L
(pound)

I dont' know. Sometimes it seems Peter Jackson is trying too hard to be Spielberg from the 70s and 80s, but he has access to computers.

It's not like I didn't like the movie, because I did. I thought Act Three was brilliant and really had no qualms there (the Central Park scene was very touching), Act Two was good and had some awesome fight sequences (despite the CGI-dependent dinosaurs), most notably the three t-rexes, giganatosaurus, allosaurus, whatever. Act One was the weakest part, trying to set everything up too much.

The acting was good, especailly from Naomi Watts. Like Fran Way in the original, she's a much better actor than the two male leads (Jack Black and Adrien Brody). Or at least puts on a better performance.

I don't know, maybe seeing the vastly superior Munich before this kind of damped the movie, but I was a bit disappointed.

The original was SO MUCH BETTER. No, it didn't look as good, but it had it's heart, and my favorite Kong battle (with that snake thing that climbed the tree branch and Kong killed by smashing it like the monkeys with the bones in 2001). Kong '33, like Quorth says, remains the best of the bunch.

By the way, the few references back to the original were pretty brilliant.

JACK BLACK: Have about Fray? Would she fit in a size four?
COLIN HANKS: She's working at RKO at the moment.
JACK BLACK: Damn that Cooper.

Haha.

Like I said, while this is good escapism and adventure, it doesn't hold a candle to the original.

***/**** for me.

EDIT: Another thing I agree with with Quorth is that the dinosaurs in JURASSIC PARK, made 12 years ago, are still more realistic looking than the ones here.

EDIT 2: I also feel that there really is no scene in this movie that matches the Balrog in Lord of the Rings 1, the Ents marching in Lord of the Rings 2, or the charge of the Rohan in Lord of the Rings 3.

[Heineken Skywalker]

Finally saw it today after a couple of failed attempts.
I pretty much agree with Quorthon's review of it and many of the points that he and a couple of others have brought up.
Is it a little too long? Yes, but I didn't find myself getting actually bored with it. I was squirming in my seat a little towards the end, but only because at over three hours the movie is a real bladder buster and I drank quite a bit of Mountain Dew.

There is too much set up time before they actually leave New York for Skull Island. Jackson could've probably eliminated a good 15 minutes right there. I don't mind getting a little more background on the characters, but let's face it, the movie is called KING KONG, not ANNE DARROW or CARL DENHAM, let's get going so we can see the real star of the movie.

Like the set-up in NY, we also spend a little too much time on the ship and the voyage to the island. I didn't really need to get to know all the crew members. We already know most of them won't be coming back and frankly, getting to know them a little better didn't really add any emotion when they do bite it.
(This kind of thing was done much better in TITANIC, where we got to know many of the other characters on the ship besides Jack and Rose, and you actually feel something for them when they don't make it.)
The kid and his mentor was pretty pointless, though I did like the character of the mentor. Andy Serkis (Gollum in the RINGS trilogy) pulls double duty in the movie. He plays the ship's cook, as well as performing Kong's body and facial movements. He also has one of the more memorable death scenes. Well, I guess actually, he has two of the more memorable death scenes.

As Q mentioned, the natives were fantastic. Probably the most native looking natives I've ever seen portrayed on film. Completely savage and alien to civilized man. I didn't get the whole "We're going into comas - eyes rolling into the backs of our heads." thing they were doing, but whatever. Shocking, very creepy and big points were scored here.

While Kong himself looked just amazing, the most ape-like and realistic of all the Kongs previously portrayed on film, the dinosaurs didn't fare as well. JURRASIC PARK's dinos have nothing to worry about as they still have yet to be surpassed. I think the effects that don't quite work are amplified by just how good Kong looks. There are definitely some questionable effects going on during the dinosaur stampede. Especially stuff with rear projections and so forth where it was obvious that the actors and the dinos were not actually on screen together, if you get my meaning. Speaking of the stampede, I turned to my wife and whispered, "Uh oh", as visions of VAN HELSING's ridiculous escapes flashed through my mind. It went on way too long and every one of those guys would've been trampled.
Of course, then the movie would've been over, but still, kinda silly.

The "spider pit" scene on the other hand was right out of a nightmare. The ultimate in creepiness. Kudos to Jackson and company for finally bringing this long talked about, but never seen in the original, sequence, and making it even more horrific than originally planned back in '33.

Kong rampaging through NY was also done very well technically, but by the time we got to that point, the movie started to have that "been there done that" feeling to it. I think I would've been a lot more impressed if I hadn't seen this kind of thing before in, not just the original KONG, but in all the other giant monster on the loose films I've seen. Even JURASSIC PARK 2 had dinosaurs tearing through a city. The Central Park scene being the standout in the sequence. But again, something that's not really necessary and stretches the running time further.

The movie as a whole, felt more self indulgent than boring. Too many slow motion shots and scenes that just kinda linger. Even the reaching of Skull Island was needlessly drawn out. That whole business with them trying to avoid the rocks and so forth. A snip here and a snip there and Jackson could've easily brought this movie down to two or two and a half hours. It kinda felt like we were already watching the inevitable extended edition on DVD.

A very good movie, but not an all-time classic. It's a remake, and except for some neat modern effects and a very cool spider pit sequence and natives, it doesn't really take too many chances.
It does everything right that the '76 remake did wrong, but again, when the original '33 version is such a classic and is pretty much perfect, why remake it? Unlike the remakes of THE THING and THE FLY, which spun the original movies on their heads, this one is so loyal to the original as to almost be pointless. It's like remaking a song and doing it almost exactly like the original. If you're going to do that, why bother remaking it? Probably one of the reasons I've never seen the shot-by-shot remake of PSYCHO.

8.5/10 (If it had been an original story, not based on an already classic movie, and edited more, it surely would've been a 10/10)

[slayrrr666]

Seeing it soon, look for my remarks after the new year.

[Quorthon]

It dawns on me that I must be the only one here that squirmed during the spider pit sequence--not because of creepy giant bugs--but because the special effects and compositing work bothered me.

[Pulpmariachi]

It kinda felt like we were already watching the inevitable extended edition on DVD.

Please don't say there's going to be an Extended Edition!

[Bartwald]

quorthon said:

It dawns on me that I must be the only one here that squirmed during the spider pit sequence--not because of creepy giant bugs--but because the special effects and compositing work bothered me.

This is my second favourite part of the film - just after the dino-wrestling. The effects did seem dodgy there at times but for me it tied the scene nicely to the B-movies it was a tribute to.

[slayrrr666]

Just got back from seeing it, but since I don't want to bore you with a very long review, here's my Q-like review for the film:

The Good:
-Kong finally looks and acts like the giant ape he should be.
-Just about any sequence on the island involving dinos. The raptor attack on the stampeding dinos in the ravine, the resolution of that sequence, the dino wrestling with Kong, the spider pit, and a personal ave, Watts performing for Kong. The island sequences are pretty much aces.
-Speaking of Watts, any film that gives her an excuse to spend 90% of the time in a nightgown gets extra points.
-Kong fights often with lots of opponents, allowing for some nice scenes.
-The natives look creepy and scary, the way primitive people should.
-For being composed so late, the score is actually pretty catchy and interesting, helping out in many scenes and making others more thrilling than they should.
-One of the best dance sequences to spark Kong's arrival. That whole part was really interesting and is one of the better ones from the films.
-Kong's rampage is pretty cool.
-Nearly excellent combination of the first one and the other remake.

The Bad"
-Waaay to long. The length does hurt it, as so much is packed in that we won't it to just hurry up and get it over with.
-As much crap as we hurl at Uwe Boll for the overuse and overdependance of CGI, we have to say it to Jackson too: CGI does not a good movie make.
-Really crappy looking Dinos. We've come this far since Jurassic Park? Kong looks good, as does Watts, but no one/thing else in the film comes close.
-Spectacle for the sake of spectacle. Hardly anything in the film wouldn't play out that way in real life.
-Character stupidity just to place them in danger later. Such nonsense from the characters. Annoyed me to no end.
-That fight on the roof-top should've been more thrilling. The 76 remake had a better roof-too fight to me.
-Too much of a Van Helsing feel to it. We know who's going to go as soon as the ride starts, and they're placed in predicaments to let them survive to die later.

I could go on and on about the padded time, but that's all moot. Still a good film, but not a better one than the first one. However, I still got more enjoyment out of the 76 film. In terms of cultural significance:
1. 33 Version
2. 05 Version
3. 76 Version

In terms of my enjoyment:
1. 76 Version
2. 33 Version
3. 05 Version

[Heineken Skywalker]

quorthon said:

It dawns on me that I must be the only one here that squirmed during the spider pit sequence--not because of creepy giant bugs--but because the special effects and compositing work bothered me.

Yeah, guess so. The f/x bothered me in a couple of other scenes, but not here. Go figure. Though it was rather silly that Jimmy was shooting the bugs off of Driscoll (Adrien Brody) and never even knicked him. What a shot!!

pulpmariachi said:

Please don't say there's going to be an Extended Edition!

No idea, but this is Peter Jackson we're talking about, so it wouldn't surprise me in the least. Remember, for anyone who didn't think that 9 hours worth of Hobbits, elves & Orcs was enough, there are 12 hour versions available on DVD.

[slayrrr666]

That is what frightens me: a longer Kong. What more did he cut out; it was too long to begin with. Yes, you do get lost in it sometimes, but that feeling in your bladder doesn't make it a better movie.

[slayrrr666]

Sorry to drudge this one up, but seeing as how it premiered on cable over here and my new-found interest in monster movie reviewing, here's my "official review" of this one:

“King Kong” is vastly overrated but still a watchable film in it’s own right.

**SPOILERS**

Wanting to save his film, film-maker Carl Denham, (Jack Black) and his assistant Preston, (Colin Hanks) immediately try to leave New York. Finding out-of-work actress Ann Darrow, (Naomi Watts) on the streets and encouraging her to come along on his trip, she meets her favorite writer, Jack Driscoll, (Adrien Brody) also on board, and he reveals that has lured them all under false pretenses so he can shoot a different movie than what they were told. Landing on Skull Island, the site of the filming, the natives steal Ann and offer her as sacrifice for Kong, a monstrous native also on the island. Fighting their way through a series of gigantic creatures and dinosaurs on the island, the team finds that Kong is a gigantic ape, and has taken an interest in Ann. Capturing him and bringing it back to New York, they put the creature on display in the theaters where it escapes and rampages through the city, looking for Ann and trying to leave before the military kills it.

The Good News: There are still some noteworthy things here, all of them related to the Skull Island sequences. The grand majesty of the fights is quite nice, especially the drag-out fight between three giant dinos and Kong himself, with Ann stuck in the middle. From a forested area into a clearing, out over a mountain cliff, down the sides and down into the marshlands below, it’s a spectacle that is impressively choreographed and comes across as the film’s highlight. The ending is a nice and novel tip-of-the-hat to the original, and the fight falling down the side of the mountain is one of the most creative fight locations ever. The long-lost spider-pit sequence makes a more-than-welcome reappearance, effectively coming out of a nightmare while not seeming out-of-place on the island. The size and amount of bugs coming in makes it miles more effective than had those been scaled down, and it comes in quite nicely. The bat attack on Kong is also a rather nice scene, as an effective homage to the one in the original while also featuring some really nice fighting and becoming the pivotal escape mechanism. There is also some other really nice scenes in there, such as the dance number Ann does for Kong that comes across with a small amount of humor and the reaction shots of Kong are priceless. When he gets into the act, it becomes a small little scene that really sticks out. Also impressive is Ann’s escape from a pair of a four-legged menace by hiding in a log with giant centipedes, and when one is pulled out, killed and dragged up, out-of-focus, Ann slowly comes out, expecting Kong but getting a surprise that is truly surprising and quite creative. The ensuing chase and hiding spot to get away is really good, as is the surprise that awaits her at the hiding spot as well. Of course, nothing would be complete without Kong, who achieves a level of realism here unparalleled elsewhere and really looks and behaves like a real wild animal would. The natives are quite otherworldly and have a freaky look that certainly speaks volumes about their outside-of-human-contact status. A few moments during the final rampage do have some thrills to them, but the real reason to see this is the island sequences.

The Bad News: There is a lot of things really wrong with this one. The biggest is the really painful and terrible CGI. In the ten years since “Jurassic Park,” the evolution should’ve allowed the dinosaurs in here to be the most advanced ones around, but instead they come off as pale imitations. There’s nothing in here that suggests they’re real in any sense, and come off being pretty fake and obvious. Aside from them, there’s plenty of scenes that show the fakeness of the CGI. The numerous scenes of Ann being thrown around by the various limbs of Kong or the scenes where he’s running with her in his hand and using that limb as well to propel himself rather than simply hold it up, since it shows her being rocked back and forth so hard her back should’ve been broken quite easily. It’s really hard to believe as much of the movie if there’s such a giant amount of it being painfully fake. The Brontosaurus sequence in the ravine suffers from this problem, as well as the film’s other big problem, spectacle for the sake of spectacle. Rather than have the crew become trampled, which it by all rights should’ve done with the amount of screen-time spent running in their midst, it allows for an escape that has no common sense behind it and doesn’t do anything other than kill off a few more non-members of the cast. The airplane battle is another big example, especially the parts where Ann climbs up to the top and putting herself in the firing line for no reason. It shows off the painful CGI in a sequence that really shouldn’t have been there to begin with. The film’s last problem is the sheer length of it. There’s no need for it to be as long as it is, as scenes go on far longer than they should and too much time is spent with nonsense moments. The fact that we spent twenty minutes in New York before the ship leaves is ridiculous, as is the fact that it’s almost an hour and a half before the titular beast appears on-screen. This really should’ve come down a lot from what is presented, and all help this become an overrated experience.

The Final Verdict: While being an overrated film with some questionable moments, there is still something in here to like about it. It really isn’t better than the original, but it’s still a really entertaining film, so it’s worthy of a watch at any rate.