Great ape
King Kong ups the ante for all adventure films to come
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From the very first frame of the new King Kong, director Peter
Jackson sets out to dazzle us. His Depression-era New York City is a grimy,
vibrant urban jungle whose residents struggle to survive. Among them is
unemployed actress Ann Darrow (a luminous Naomi Watts), who, despite a
string of bad breaks, still believes that things will get better. Her path
crosses that of filmmaker Carl Denham (Jack Black). He’s on the
ropes, too — his producers have suspended financing of his latest
film, so he’s skipping town with the footage with the goal of
completing a documentary about the world’s last undiscovered
civilization on a remote place known as Skull Island. Just hours before
Denham’s ship sails, he meets Ann and persuades her to take the role
of leading lady. Ann knows a huckster when she sees one and turns Denham
down, only to change her mind when she learns that playwright Jack Driscoll
(Adrien Brody), an author she admires, is working on the movie’s
script.
Jackson’s film becomes darker and darker as the
three make their way to Skull Island, and, once there, they are immersed in
a nightmarish world, replete with prehistoric creatures, man-eating bugs,
and, of course, King Kong, a 25-foot-tall gorilla. Worse, bloodthirsty
cannibals inhabit the island, and they regularly make sacrifices to Kong.
This time, it’s Ann who gets the honors, and the bulk of the film
chronicles the crew’s efforts to rescue Ann, as well as her struggles
to save herself by gaining the big gorilla’s trust. Be warned that
this journey is not for the faint of heart — or small children, for
that matter. The creatures are frightening and ferocious, and some of the
sequences are disturbing in their violence.
As spectacular as the horrific sounds and visions of
Skull Island are, Jackson overstays his welcome there, giving us at least
two actions scenes too many. Yes, Kong’s battle with massive
man-eating bats is wondrous to behold, as is the gorilla’s ultimate
capture, but these scenes run far too long, and we wind up getting
impatient for the film’s final act. The jaw-dropping moments
culminate in New York once Kong is ushered onto Broadway, for an exhibition
that, as everybody knows, will go awry.
Still, there’s no denying that Jackson ups the
ante here for all adventure films to come, redefining cinematic spectacle
for the 21st century. His attempt to flesh out the human characters is a
noble one and works most of the time; his exploration of the relationship
between Kong and Ann is developed along a plausible track and provides the
film with an emotional resonance and poignancy that is surprisingly
effective. However, what viewers will remember is Jackson’s
monumental visual achievement, which is as grand as the film’s
subject.
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