Peter Jackson's homage filled remake of the 1933 classic is one of the greatest most amazing films I have ever seen.
That being said, let's move on with my review.
I always wonder what it would be like to have been an audience member in the early days of film. Those who had never seen the magic of CGI, or knew what special effects could accomplish, (or knew who The Bumble was- think about it...) must have been in total awe and fear when they first saw Kong on the big screen. Jackson has actually been able to recreate that for movie goers today.
This film will suck you in, (forgive the spider pit pun) terrify you, and bring tears to your eyes. The effects are absolutely mind boggling. Andy Serkis, who studied gorillas for six months to play the giant ape the same way he did Gollum in LOTR, brought such a magic to the character. Though no real shots of a gorilla was used, you will swear he is real. All the time they spent on Kong must have deffered them from spending time on other CG characters. Ann tends to look a little fake at times when traveling in Kong's hand, and the stampede with the raptor attacks are definately disapointing where graphics are concerned. All of that, however, is forgivable and slight in comparison to the rest of the film.
The suprising casting of Jack Black was happily not a mistake. Since all of the characters were much more spawned out, Black fits Carl Denham very well. He gets to play the wise cracking jerk, and does a great job of keeping charcter through the whole movie (meaning, he refrains from playing Jack Black.) Adrian Brody, Jack Driscoll, and Naomi Watts, Ann Darrow, give great performances as well. All of the actors did a fine job- the characters were all much more three dimensional and human than those in the original. Unfortunately, this also left us wondering more about them after their parts in the story end.
Jackson made sure to put in several homages to the original in this version. There were some slight changes and some drastic changes, but all were made respectably, and I had not major complaints with any of them. Jack plays a writer, not a sailor, and Denham films scenes straight from the 33 version- with Ann and actor Bruce Baxtor, played by Kyle Chandler. In the end of the film, a huge change is that Ann is not present on stage for the showing of Kong. Instead, a replacement actress is in her place. This is consistent with the new characterization of Ann, however, so is a forgivable alteration.
As much as each character is more three dimensional, so is the relationship between Ann and Kong. In the original, while you feel bad for Kong, you never really empathize with him. This version really seperates him from being the beast and being an actual character. You actually see their connection grow, and see his love and sacrifice for her.
Though I give Jack Black the utmost credit and respect in this role, the final line was slightly disapointing. He almost had it, it seemed, but there was just something missing from his delivery.
The film is shot marvelously. The images are absolutely breathtaking. Jackson was able to create this incredible world where everything was just slightly fantastical that it made it almost magic. The film is scary, though, and has some graphic scenes, so I'd be wary bringing young kids to see it, but everyone should go out and see this film. Overall Grade: A+
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