Monster Of a Movie. Review on King Kong (New) Movie

It was Saturday evening and as I was driving to watch King Kong; there were erratic flashes of huge mountains, big castles, Orcs and Gollum from LOTR running in my mind. As I approached the theater, thrill convulsed within me for this had been the most awaited movie of the year so far. The projector turned on, lights turned off, I stretched legs and rested my head on the seat – and then I forgot my world for three hours.

Welcome to the world of Peter Jackson.

This is the fourth remake of infamous story of King Kong, originally written by Merian Cooper and Edgar Wallace. And to merely say this is the best remake would be subtle and a gross understatement.

Story begins with the great depression era and we are introduced to Naomi Watts, a struggling actress who is frantic for a job and some food. Also Jack Black, a cunning producer who can fall down to any extent to catch few images on his camera that has been never captured before. As fate would call it, they both meet each other and Naomi Watts, along with other crew members are tricked by the shrewd producer to venture into the last unmapped land called the Skull Island.

Then begins the adventure saga.

Hold onto your breath, one can expect almost everything that would trigger the wild instinct within self – Thick sprawling rainforest, sharp grass blades, enchanting waterfalls, scary tribes men, monstrous dinosaurs, repulsive flies, gigantic insects, blood sucking bats and of course the lovable mammoth ape.

The story won’t grab you by surprise, however it hits you hard. Naomi Watts is offered as a sacrifice to King Kong by few bloodcurdling tribesmen. The beast instead falls in love with the tender woman and holds her captive. Naomi’s love interest, the script writer played by Adrien Brody is relentless in his pursuit to rescue his sweetheart from the Ape’s clutches. Meanwhile Jack Black and other crew members scheme to cage the living wonder alive, sensing the riches and fame within their reach. Adrien and Jack, both are successful at their task as King Kong is chloroformed and shipped to New York. Our hairy hero renders a houseful show for Jack Black named “Eighth Wonder of the World”. But the power of love is untamable; the chrome chains are no match for King Kong’s might and soon the ape is out on the street creating ruckus in search of its love. In the quest to secure its love and regain freedom, King Kong climbs up the top most point of Empire State building and thumps its chest challenging the armed fighter planes heading full throttle towards the hapless animal.

Speculating the end can be effortless, yet its heart wrenching. The expressive touch perfectly fits into the grand finale.

It takes almost an hour before we get the first glimpse of ape. Director has taken much liberty in gradually establishing the characters. Though the pre voyage part is lengthy; every frame of it is pure magic. The movie transports you straight back to 1930’s during the depression era. Buildings, cars, costumes and people look authentic and are true to its time. As the story develops, there is not one moment when the pace slackens.

Indisputably the best segment of the entire film is the adventure in Skull Island. This is where Peter Jackson’s passion sets the screen on fire. The last unmapped land on earth is splendidly beautiful; vastly intimidating; creepily alive and mysteriously dark. The most notable scene in the entire film is the episode with Dinosaurs. One may forget to inhale while watching the escapade of surviving the gigantic Apatosaurus stampede while being hunted down by mean Velociraptors. The chase ends with a fist on battle between Tyrannosaurs - Rex and King Kong. Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park now seems to be a pre historic movie.

The concluding part of the film is more on the emotional side. The scene where ape and Naomi Watts play on the ice rink is truly remarkable. Jackson provokes the viewers to think on the human’s role in animal kingdom. Is it justified to infiltrate into their home and flitch their freedom? Isn’t this planet as much as theirs as ours?

Think!

I believe everyone associated with this film have done an immensely commendable job. Among the actors, Naomi Watts as Ann Darrow is a perfect cast; she looks pretty and has expressed her emotions well. Adrien Brody has delivered a calm and composed performance and looks like a genuine man in love. Andy Serkis, after his appearance as Gollum in LOTR has a done commendable job with depicting Ape’s movements and brilliant facial expression of the animal. The most notable actor of all is Jack Black as the cunning producer; he has done it so well that you actually start despising his character sincerely.

On the technical end, Andrew Lesnie’s cinematography is stellar. With LOTR and King Kong under his belt, this man has created a niche for himself as one of most sought after cinematographers in the world. James Howard’s music is just passable; it may have been a good idea to use more of percussions to suit the colossal background. The CGI and special effects team have created grandeur magic that can leave you spellbound.

The true champion of this feast is none other than Peter Jackson. This man who started his career by making B grade horror movies like Brain Dead has scaled up a long way to reach this level. King Kong had been his dream project even before he ventured into LOTR trilogy. No wonder this is his best work so far. Am keenly looking forward to his next film “The Lovely Bones” scheduled for 2007 release, which is about a 14 year old murdered girl, who recalls the events during her death from heaven.

The only factor against this film is its topic. King Kong has been recreated umpteen number of times and beaten black and blue by films all over the world. Any average Indian viewer would believe this film to be yet another puppet ape movie taking on a Japanese lizard. It was disheartening to see more than 3/4th of the theater empty on a Saturday evening show in a premium multiplex. Though this film is a magnanimous hit worldwide and is expected to break many records; it’ll hardly create any stir in Indian box office. Thanks to the poor marketing and uninteresting poster. This film could’ve done wonders here had there been a proper marketing strategy. Another film to meet a similar fate earlier this year was “Charlie and The Chocolate Factory”, which was a worldwide hit but a disaster in India.

This film is entertainment at its best. It’ll go down in history as a landmark achievement in filmmaking and will be remembered for decades to come. Needless to say, it’s worth much more than what you pay for the tickets.

Miss this monster of a movie at your own peril.