2005 - Rated PG-13 - 3 hr 7 min
Director: Peter Jackson
Starring: Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Colin Hanks, Andy Serkis, Jamie Bell
I remember when this came out, how big a deal it was. Peter Jackson does Kong... and it's bigger, better, and hairier than the original! So there are some things about it that make it a unique experience. Jack Black for one, who seems to play Peter Jackson in this movie. And the giant bugs for another. Scary, creepy giant bugs.
I'm not really sure what's up with the bugs, actually.
I also can't quite figure out why this movie needs to be more than three hours long. It almost feels like they're trying to force an epic from this story. While Naomi Watts does a great Fay Wray impression and creates an even stronger tie to the unlucky ape, I feel like much of this update was unecessary.
While I grant it is too long there are key differences that make me happy to own this and the original. There's a great sense of fate in this one (which was smart everybody knows how it ends.) Watts was very different from Wray and still worked. Kong himself was quite different too. The original he was basically a god, nothing could touch him until he was dragged out of his element. This Kong is pretty worn down, every day he's fighting to survive and it's clearly wearing on him. Sorry that got ranty but I do dig both versions quite a bit.
ReplyDeleteGood to know! It's been too long since I saw the original, so it's just a series of iconic images stuck in my brain. Watts portrays a much more emotional, much deeper character for sure. And the tortured hero feeling you get from Kong makes you kinda root for him...
ReplyDelete