Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Romance
Released: December 14, 2005
Overall, the film isn't completely terrible, and it is watchable, but I was pretty disappointed, especially since this is from the director of Lord of the Rings.
A number of people complain that James Cameron's Avatar was a huge show-off of CGI with flaws, a weak, thin story, and very little substance. I disagree with this, but I do think that this statement would be somewhat accurate in describing Peter Jackson's remake of King Kong, which I saw on Sunday (October 7, just four days ago). I wouldn't describe this film using that statement word-for-word, but the "massive amount of CGI and lots of flaws" part is pretty accurate for this film, if you ask me.
I've seen a clip of original 1933 King Kong film, but I've never seen the entire film, so I won't be able to compare and contrast the films. So I will just talk about this film. The story is set in 1933. Film director Carl Denham (Jack Black) wants to travel to a mysterious island called Skull Island to finish his film. He finds a lead lady, Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts). After a while, during which Ann falls in love with Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody), they reach the island, but soon the natives there capture Ann and give her up to Kong, a giant gorilla. Kong takes Ann and retreats into the jungle, and Carl, Jack, and the crew go in after her, along the way encountering many creatures and other dangers.
The visual effects in this film are very good and convincing. Everything is designed with great detail, especially Kong. James Newton Howard composed a good score for the film. And I liked Kong himself. He's not just a one-dimensional figure; he actually has some personality and depth, and I did feel the emotional impact of his death at the end of the film. And I liked the scenes involving Ann and Kong, and I liked the bond that developed between them (although it should have been stronger).
Now for the criticisms...where you you like me to begin? In my opinion, the film is way too long. It also has some serious pacing and structure issues. The exposition is too long; over an hour passes before Kong appears. I was hoping for the movie to get better after Kong's initial appearance. This is where Ann is taken by Kong, and Carl, Jack, and the crew follow them deeper into the island. But, unfortunately, (at least for me) it actually got worse after Kong's appearance. The film basically discards most of its substance, and many other things established in the hour-long first act (and the natives on the island who give Ann to Kong), and goes into over-the-top and overly-long CGI sequences. I felt to me almost as if the film couldn't make up its mind as to what is important and what is pointless. The storyline is somewhat cluttered, and, again, not properly paced. Things are not paid off properly, etc., and don't have the bones to support them.
The film had so much potential, and, in my opinion it ended up blowing most of it. Again, I haven't seen the original 1933 film, but even so, this film (2005) could have been great. Like I said before, the effects are interesting, and a lot of the design is good, but the film even had trouble here. The creatures that the characters encounter on the island seemed more as if they were designed mainly to look cool or scary rather than anything else. Also, the "world" (Skull Island) doesn't really work with the narrative like it should. It, and the CGI, felt more like it was there to just look cool and distract the viewer from the flaws, which of course does not work on me. Also, good as the effects are, some of the creatures and sequences were pretty stupid; I almost rolled my eyes in a few areas.
The film had so much potential, and, in my opinion it ended up blowing most of it. Again, I haven't seen the original 1933 film, but even so, this film (2005) could have been great. Like I said before, the effects are interesting, and a lot of the design is good, but the film even had trouble here. The creatures that the characters encounter on the island seemed more as if they were designed mainly to look cool or scary rather than anything else. Also, the "world" (Skull Island) doesn't really work with the narrative like it should. It, and the CGI, felt more like it was there to just look cool and distract the viewer from the flaws, which of course does not work on me. Also, good as the effects are, some of the creatures and sequences were pretty stupid; I almost rolled my eyes in a few areas.
I felt that Skull Island was begging for a firm establishment in the film, even as a character in itself. I felt that it was begging to have the film go somewhat into its history, biology, etc, and that the film should have maybe gone into Kong's background, and stuff like that (and more about the natives). Unfortunately, the film does not do this. Maybe if it did, it would somewhat justify the three-hour running time. But it doesn't, and it ends up being too thin and too long. Also, the Kong/Ann and Kong's death scenes, effective as they are, could have been much better.
Overall, the film isn't completely terrible, and it is watchable, but I was pretty disappointed, especially since this is from the director of Lord of the Rings. It has some redeeming values, but it has to many flaws, in my opinion. It felt almost like a great movie trapped in a lame one.
Note: Avatar, like King Kong, has some script flaws and could have used more depth, but in my opinion it's actually an okay movie. It's solid, coherent, and has a much better world. Also, in my opinion, the world Pandora actually felt alive to me, and I felt that it was actually a character in the film (not to mention carefully crafted with actual thoughts towards science, biology, ecosystems, etc., rather than just things to look cool). Also, in my opinion, Avatar has more meaning (it's not meaningless at all), more emotion, more relatability, much stronger romance, and a much more coherent story.
Cast and Credits:
Ann Darrow: Naomi Watts
Carl Denham: Jack Black
Jack Driscoll: Adrian Brody
Universal Pictures presents
A film directed by Peter Jackson
Running time: 187 min.
Rated PG-13 for frightening adventure violence and some disturbing images
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