My main impression was that this movie could have easily lost an hour of footage and it wouldn't have been noticed.
I mean, O.M.G.!!! It seemed to drag on FOREVER! It was already two hours into the damn movie and they were STILL on Skull Island!!! How many freakin dinosaur chase scenes do you need? It's King Kong, not Jurassic Park.
And the insect crevasse scene was almost too unbelievable to be tolerated. Seriously. SSB and I just kept looking at each other with WTF looks on our faces.
There were some interesting ambiguously gay relationships: two sets of the ships crew-mates seemed to not know how to quit each other. Then there was Jack Black's character and his sidekick (whatever that guy's job was). Plus, it seemed that Jack Black's character, Carl Denham, had a "thing" for King Kong. I swear Carl got a boner-face whenever he saw Kong.
SSB and I think that the director had ADHD. The movie rambled on and on and was all over the place. Too much special effect and not enough coherency.
BUT, the movie was good overall.
I found it funny that the movie itself seemed exactly the kind of movie that the Carl Denham character might make; over the top, and at times seeming to convey a message that only the director gets.
I also liked that the movie went more in-depth into how the relationship between the girl and the ape develops. I truly believed in this version that she not only has sympathy for the tragic ape, but that she in fact falls in love with him.
That's why I was so hoping that it would end with her taking a bullet for him, or throwing herself off the building to die with him. It would have made up for the lame ending in Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
That hunchback was the best man that she would ever have the priviledge of knowing, but she just couldn't bring herslef to love him.
You suck, Esmeralda!!
My other hope for an ending was seeing King Kong escape to hide out, plot his revenge, return to New York and rampage the city.
Can we say "sequel"?
Would I recommend this movie? Yeah, sure. Why not? Even though it is a three hour movie, you have almost unlimited times you can sneak away for a potty-break without really missing anything. Jack Black rocks, as always - except, right at the end, he has the corniest line in the movie, possibly in ALL movies, reminiscent of William Shatner(hmmm, maybe that is still a positive).
Another reason to see this movie? The lead actress and the captain of the ship are HAWT!!
Thanks, now I know to wait for this one to come out on DVD. Much cheaper than seeing it in the theater.
February 11, 2006 1:12 AM
They made areference to Faye Wray being unavailable for Denham's film because she was doing a picture for RKO...presumably "King Kong". I'm sure a lot of people didn't catch that.
But there was far too little of stuff like that, and far too many drawn out scenes, like when Kong is being sedated...I've never seen an ape overact that much! By the end you want to get a gun yourself and but that monkey down!
February 11, 2006 3:12 AM
OldRoses, other than in the theater you can enjoy the fact that everything is LARGE in the movie, I think I would recommend just waiting for it to come out on DVD.
SSB, that's funny. Last night as I was drifting off to sleep I suddenly thought of the perfect title for the post: King Long-and Drawn-Out
But I was REALLY tired and a wee bit lazy too.
February 11, 2006 12:29 PM
except, right at the end, he has the corniest line in the movie
Actually, that line and the lines of "dialogue" filmed on the ride to the island were lifted from the original. Jackson put it in there as an homage to the original flick, but it sure did seem out of place. Especially coming from JB's mouth.
February 11, 2006 4:56 PM
Ha, ha! I thought the same thing. I couldn't believe I was watching a movie about a giant gorilla falling in love with a vaudville blonde. And that I totally bought it. Two opposable thumbs up!
February 11, 2006 8:24 PM
P.S. I agree; the captain of the ship is such a freaking hottie! You're the only other person who has mentioned this. We have excellent taste.
February 11, 2006 8:25 PM
Syl, I haven't seen Kong yet. I may be the only person who thought Lord of the Rings was two movies too long. Good God, I got so tired of all the CGI battles, that by the end, I wanted to throw fricking Frodo and Sam in the damn lava along with the ring. I am not saying Jackson isn't talented but it is OK to edit once and while.
February 11, 2006 10:31 PM
Otto Man, hey, great to see you here! It really was completely out of place the way that he said it, and the fact that you are waiting for him to do that crazy eyebrow thing that he does - maybe a little air guitar and funky dance too.
Maria, he was the hottest person in the movie!! I think they cast him for the right part even though I'd like to see him in a bigger part some time.
DrMax, when SSB and I went to see LOTR, our theater chopped a whole half hour out of the middle of the movie, and although we were a little confused as to how things progressed to the point that they got to, I really don't think that the half hour was that critical to the story.
February 11, 2006 10:44 PM
Syl I thought LOTR was too long. Why do they insist on having battle scenes go on and on. In the land down under you can't really go to the theatre for under 13.50pp excluding popcorn and drinks which are a necessity in my books. Tack on another 12.-15.00 for that snack. We will wait for Kong to come out on DVD.
February 12, 2006 4:14 AM
Wendy A, our city is most fortunate to have a theater that is run by a family that feel it their civic duty to make the admission affordable for ALL. So our tickets are $3 for adults and $2 for seniors and 12 and unders. Plus the snacks are cheap too. Candy: $.50, large bucket of popcorn: $1.50, large soda: $.75. AND they even have a matinee on the weekends which has an even cheaper admission.
The total cost for all three of us to go to a night flick and get all the goodies we want runs about $15. So it isn't so bad when we get there and the movie isn't that impressive. Or they chop a half an hour out of the middle of it.
February 12, 2006 1:43 PM
Candy: $.50
Large soda: $.75
Wondering how the hell Gandolf wound up imprisoned on top of that tower after we had just seen him plunge to his presumable death: priceless
February 12, 2006 9:32 PM
It's quite simple SSB, Gandolf who "died" was actually an Istari spirit and simply turned into Gandolf the White who would later help the Riders of Rohan at Helms Deep when the Orcs and Uruk-hai attacked at the behest of Dark Lord Sauron and Saruman the White when..ahhh...wait..Aragorn came with the....Faramir....and Treebeard grabbed some Hobbits and... uhmmm....Rosebud was the sled. See? Easy peasy.
February 13, 2006 12:28 PM
Okay, I dug me some Kong. But the insect scenes were just a bit too much. I mean, I scream like a bitch with a skinned knee any time I see a water bug in my apartment, so you can only imagine how utterly horrified I was during the middle 15 hours of the movie.
Speaking of sequels, Peter Jackson posted an item on the movie blog on April 1st that he was already planning a sequel to Kong. The plot involved returning to Skull Island, abducting the Son of Kong, and then dropping him off in Europe to fight Nazis. A lot of "news" people missed the whole point of April 1st and picked it up and ran it as an actual story.
The funny thing is, that would be one kick ass sequel!
February 13, 2006 4:32 PM
SSB, for a moment there I thought we had fallen asleep.
Or were abducted by aliens.
DrMax, yeah, that's how I rembered it.
Irb, imagine how utterly horrified I was during the middle 15 hours of the movie
BWHAAHAA!! It's funny because it's so horribly true!!
And that would SO be a kick-ass sequel!!
February 13, 2006 8:35 PM
I've always been looking for that movie I could go watch without being afraid to bring a massive bowl of Coca-Cola into, for fear of missing the important part while peeing. Good to know.
February 14, 2006 7:48 AM
I feel the same way about that movie.
I originally gave it a four (out of six), but the more time that passes, the more I think about how bugged I was watching it.
The ice-skating almost made me want to blow-up the theater.
February 14, 2006 1:57 PM
waiting for him to do that crazy eyebrow thing that he does - maybe a little air guitar and funky dance too.
Heh. That would've been priceless.
Or else a Tenacious D song about the Kongster.
February 14, 2006 4:26 PM
Elizabeth, you would be just fine to drink a keg of soda at this movie.
Tayster, I liked the way the ice skating showed Kong as a big sweety who would just like to have some fun time with his lady, but I agree, as was most of the other scenes, Jackson really beat you over the head with it.
Otto Man, "Kongster"
HeeHee!! I'd love to hear that!
February 14, 2006 8:03 PM