Having collectively grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide and having won 17 Oscars, Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy was a big act to follow. But as far as special-effect spectacles go, they don't come much bigger — or better — than the New Zealand director's remake of King Kong.
And though not “the eighth wonder of the world,” Jackson certainly has much to thump his chest about with his visually staggering redo of the 1933 classic, a masterpiece of escapist entertainment which pays reverent homage to Merian C. Cooper's film while fleshing out the story and raising the movie-magic bar to dazzling new heights.
With an overly long running time of three hours (nearly double that of the original), the remake faithfully apes the outline of Cooper's tragic tale of a savage beast doomed by civilization and — to quote Cooper — “the face of beauty.”
Maverick filmmaker Carl Denham (Jack Black) lures desperate vaudevillian actress Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts, played with more girl-power pluck than Fay Wray, who immortalized the role back in 1933) to sign on as the star of his imperiled film project.
Setting off aboard a tramp steamer for an undisclosed South Sea location, Denham shanghais playwright Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody) — no longer the ship's taciturn first mate, but still Darrow's eventual love interest — to pen the screenplay.
After a lengthy setup, the intrepid band reaches its mysterious destination: Skull Island. There they encounter a Stone Age tribe living on a peninsula cut off from the rest of the island by a massive wall, an ancient bulwark against what lurks on the other side — namely, Kong.
As before, Darrow's golden locks catch the eye of the natives, who kidnap her and offer her as human sacrifice to the gargantuan gorilla, here digitally rendered as a grizzled and battle-scarred brute with sad, soulful eyes. (Kong was actually “played” by actor Andy Serkis, whose facial expressions and movements were recorded by computer animators using a technique called “motion capture.”) Kong is immediately smitten by his blonde offering.
From here, the film kicks into nonstop action mode, as the crew — led by Driscoll — tracks down the supersized simian, their numbers thinned by a lost world of dinosaurs with whom they cross paths along the way.
The third act shifts to the crueler “jungle” of New York, where Kong is eventually brought to captivity. Put on display, he breaks free and runs amok through Manhattan, leading to the spectacular climax atop the Empire State Building.
With a Kong-sized budget of $207 million at his disposal, Jackson puts every penny on screen. Though at times overwrought, the action sequences are stunning, including a jaw-dropping centerpiece where Kong faces off against three tyrannosauruses (Jackson upped the ante from the original's one-on-one death match).
Few images in American cinema are more iconic than Kong battling biplanes high above the New York skyline, here dazzlingly executed with heightened drama. What gives the scene its heartbreaking poignancy are the tender moments between Kong and Darrow that bookend the aerial assault. (The mutual bond that develops between them — absent from the original — lends the film's beauty and the beast theme added pathos.)
But Jackson's greatest achievement isn't stampeding brontosauruses or eye-filling re-creations of Depression-era New York — astounding though they are — but his strong sense of storytelling and sure-handedness (for the most part) in making the special effects serve the narrative, never losing sight of the fable's emotional core.
The performances are all good, with Serkis deserving special mention for ensouling Kong with a personality, conveying an anthropomorphic sense of loneliness and world-weariness.
Sprinkled throughout the ferocity are some strikingly beautiful images, as when Kong and Darrow admire a sunset, though the sentimentality is occasionally laid on a bit thick.
The film has an old-time Hollywood feel with no sex or four-letter words, though elements push the envelope of its PG-13 rating, including a much darker rendering of Skull Island's aboriginal population — the hostile welcome offered Denham and company is unnecessarily brutal — and a gratuitously repulsive sequence in a chasm crawling with giant insects.
At one point, Denham, lamenting the loss of mystery in the modern world, exclaims with Barnumesque showmanship, “It can be had for the price of an admission ticket.” This one is well worth the price.
The film contains intense action violence, some frightening and disturbing images, fleeting burlesque images and a few instances of profanity, making it inappropriate for younger adolescents. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents are strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
(This review appears courtesy of US Conference of Catholic Bishop's Office for Film and Broadcasting.)