re: King Kong

Ok everyone will be talking about this film in a week, but I have seen it twice now (Once at the premiere on 12-5 and again at a preview screening on 12-12) and I have a few things about this film to say. It HAS to be said.

This is probably the finest film I have seen since 1997's "Titanic", if not the finest film I have seen - EVER. I have not been this emotionally affected over a film since I saw "Jaws" in 1975 at the age of 10. Similar in scope to "Titanic" (3 hour running time) and emotion (love & tragedy) Peter Jackson's "King Kong" proves that someone, somewhere out there making movies is in touch with what people really want in a film. Action, thrills, laughs and soul. This "King Kong" has all of these traits in spades. Peter Jackson saw the original 1933 "King Kong" when he was 9 years old on TV and it changed his life. It inspired him to become a film maker. So here we are 30 years later and one can imagine that Jackson has been brewing this film in his head all that time. Every detail he's ever wanted. So how could he mess it up? By succumbing to Hollywood pressure that's how. Luckily for us Jackson lives in New Zealand. And thanks to The Lord of the Rings Trilogy success he can write his own ticket without any need for Hollywood interference. Otherwise this "Kong" wouldn't be probably one of the finest films ever made.

People may balk at the 3 hour running time but once you see the film you'll realize why it has to run that length. The scope in which Peter Jackson chooses to flesh out the story of Ann Darrow, Carl Denham, Jack Driscoll and Kong himself is so fully realized it has to take 3 hours to do it. Jackson wants you to know who these characters are and why you should either love them, pity them or hate them. The second hour is reserved for the real crux of the story of this film. The story of Kong and Ann Darrow. In the original and the campy 1976 remake, the story of Kong's time with Ann is glossed over to get to the action and the end. But Jackson takes the time to show you exactly who this Kong is inside and why he and Ann develop such closeness to each other. It's absolutely brilliant story telling.

Kong is the undisputed King of Skull Island but he's an old, lonely, bored and withdrawn gorilla. He is the last of his race and has spent many years by himself, fighting off beasts of all kinds just to survive. Jackson drives that point home by showing Kong as a graying, battle scarred ape. He's not some pretty, pristine young simian - he's been around the block a few times. But then along comes Ann Darrow and she literally melts his heart. Ann captivates him, stands up to him and offers him something solely missing in his life. Companionship. I was glad to see Jackson chose to eliminate the sexual undertones of Kong towards Ann hinted at in the original and more overtly suggested in the '76 Jessica Lange version. This Kong just needs a friend. In one very poignant scene where Kong takes Ann to his cliff side lair overlooking the ocean, Ann wants to entertain Kong (which I believe, she believes will keep her alive) and all Kong wants to do is look at the sunset. This Kong appreciates a beautiful sunset. The interaction between Ann and Kong here is truly heart warming. This interaction plays itself out again later in the film with even more heart breaking appeal. This is not a mindless, brute of a gorilla like in the original, but an ape with a heart, a soul and a fierce sense of loyalty.

Then there are the special effects. Jackson, using his own visual effects comnpany has truly raised the bar for visuals in filmmaking. The "look" of this film is nothing short of spectacular. From the breathtaking jungle scenes to the painfully detailed 1933 New York, Jackson has taken the fantasy film into new dimensions. Two blaring examples of over the top visual effects are the end fight between Kong and the biplanes and the fight between Kong and the T-Rex's.. The biplane fight last all of two minutes in the 1933 version, but Jackson takes this one up several notches by stretching it out and evoking a dizzying sense of height and vertigo. You really get a sense of what it must be like to stand at the top of the Empire State Building. It's absolutely thrilling. The T-Rex fight is mindblowingly, brilliant. It's a relentless 15min fight that goes from one heart stopping moment to another. Both spectacular scenes will have you routing for Kong all the way. Which makes the end of this story so tragically sad. If you aren't weeping or seriously choking back a tear for Kong at the end you are emotionally dead. I am proud to say I am not. There I said it.

Again like "Titanic" we all know how this story ends. But it's how the story is told that makes it all worthwhile. Jackson has taken his boyhood dream and has reimagined "King Kong" in such a way that the only comparison you could make to the original story are the key plot points. It's truly an entity upon itself. He has not only made a film for all ages but a movie for all time.

I have a feeling Peter Jackson is going to get a good chunk of my money and my time watching this masterpiece several times more. This is not a film you can see just once. And deservedly so.