Reviewed by Craig McPherson
Stars Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody, Andy Serkis,
Thomas Kretschmann, Jamie Bell, Evan Parke, Colin Hanks,
John Sumner, Lobo Chan, Craig Hall
Written by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson
Certification UK 12A | US PG-13 | Australia M
Runtime 187 minutes
Directed by Peter Jackson
Jackson’s re-imagining of King Kong is quite possibly the finest movie ever made. Critics have already hailed it as the first bonafide contender to dethrone James Cameron’s Titanic as the highest grossing movie ever. Whether or not that comes to pass is irrelevant, for as Kong’s Jack Driscoll laments about his crony Carl Denham’s penchant for reducing everything to box office receipts, the majesty of this film towers over such base denominators as butts in the seats. It is a cinematic achievement the likes of which has rarely, if ever, been produced by Hollywood.
Make no mistake however, this film will put butts in the seats, however, and hold them there. You WILL believe a 25 foot tall silverback gorilla can be humbled by a frail blonde, and can shift from a violent temper tantrum of landscape altering proportions to a silent, slack jawed child by a simple picturesque sunset. Jackson’s Kong manages to convey, through all his digital majesty, more humanity than some people I know. He towers over trees and buildings, dwarfed only by the size of his heart. This movie will have you shifting emotional gears more quickly than a Formula 1 driver. You will careen from suspense, through terror, round the hairpin bend of excitement, and run headlong into the wall known as sorrow, and it will bring tears to both men and women alike.
For the creature feature fans, the film delivers a stampede of Brontosaurus and Velociraptors, a simultaneous showdown between Kong and not one, but three T-Rex’s (a parent and two juveniles), dog sized cockroaches, locusts and scorpions, fang toothed swamp leeches and large ravenous bats. It also features a resplendent Naomi Watts, who captivates the viewer’s eye in much the same way she mesmerizes Kong. The woman is a pure beauty, and excellently cast in the role of Anne Darrow. While the movie is an achievement on so many levels, what makes this film so great is its heart…. all 25 feet of it. See it, and prepare to be humbled as if you were staring in awe at a beautiful sunset.