With Kong: Skull Island hitting theaters this weekend, I thought it would be fitting to review one of the previous King Kong films and I've decided to go with the most recent King Kong (2005). All three previous films are virtually the same, but since more people have seen this one, it is more appropriate for this film to be reviewed. So without further ado...
Flamboyant, foolhardy documentary filmmaker, Carl Denham (played by Jack Black), sails off to remote Skull Island to film his latest epic with leading lady, Ann Darrow (played by Naomi Watts). Native warriors kidnap Ann to use as a sacrifice as they summon "Kong" (played by Andy Serkis) with the local witch doctor. But instead of devouring Ann, Kong saves her. Kong is eventually taken back to New York where he searches high and low for Ann, eventually winding up at the top of the Empire State Building, facing off against a fleet of World War I fighter planes.
If one films has ever had a lot of potential and not live up to it, then it is this film. Coming off of what can be considered the greatest trilogy of all-time, Peter Jackson had all of the momentum in the world and him directing a King Kong film seemed like a perfect fit and it was to a point. Jackson took inspirations from both previous films and in doing so he added a lot of material to the film and the total runtime comes out to 187 minutes (3 hours and 7 Minutes) and it moves at such a slow pace that it feels even longer. The film is broken down into 3 segments of pre-island, island, post-island and each roughly are an hour long give or take and if the film cut out everything pre-island and just started with the crew on the boat headed towards the island, the film could've flowed so much easier. Performance wise, this film has a lot of great performances and the real standout is Jack Black. While he can be a tad crazy at times, he does bring a lot to the character and his arch really comes full circle by the end of the films. As usual Andy Serkis is phenomenal playing the motion capture role of King Kong and while in other films you can see a little bit of Serkis, he is completely invisible and unrecognizable as Kong and that's a credit to the editors and the people working in the visual effects department. Overall this film is a very gorgeous film and it's what you expect from Peter Jackson and the performances are outstanding, but the pace and the cramming of material often times becomes too overbearing and it takes away from the overall film. I give King Kong (2005) a 8 out of 10.
So ladies and gentlemen what did you think of King Kong (2005), what would you rate it, are you excited for Kong: Skull Island and what did you think of my review? Let me know in the comments section below and let your voice be heard.
Jonah Sparks
Flamboyant, foolhardy documentary filmmaker, Carl Denham (played by Jack Black), sails off to remote Skull Island to film his latest epic with leading lady, Ann Darrow (played by Naomi Watts). Native warriors kidnap Ann to use as a sacrifice as they summon "Kong" (played by Andy Serkis) with the local witch doctor. But instead of devouring Ann, Kong saves her. Kong is eventually taken back to New York where he searches high and low for Ann, eventually winding up at the top of the Empire State Building, facing off against a fleet of World War I fighter planes.
If one films has ever had a lot of potential and not live up to it, then it is this film. Coming off of what can be considered the greatest trilogy of all-time, Peter Jackson had all of the momentum in the world and him directing a King Kong film seemed like a perfect fit and it was to a point. Jackson took inspirations from both previous films and in doing so he added a lot of material to the film and the total runtime comes out to 187 minutes (3 hours and 7 Minutes) and it moves at such a slow pace that it feels even longer. The film is broken down into 3 segments of pre-island, island, post-island and each roughly are an hour long give or take and if the film cut out everything pre-island and just started with the crew on the boat headed towards the island, the film could've flowed so much easier. Performance wise, this film has a lot of great performances and the real standout is Jack Black. While he can be a tad crazy at times, he does bring a lot to the character and his arch really comes full circle by the end of the films. As usual Andy Serkis is phenomenal playing the motion capture role of King Kong and while in other films you can see a little bit of Serkis, he is completely invisible and unrecognizable as Kong and that's a credit to the editors and the people working in the visual effects department. Overall this film is a very gorgeous film and it's what you expect from Peter Jackson and the performances are outstanding, but the pace and the cramming of material often times becomes too overbearing and it takes away from the overall film. I give King Kong (2005) a 8 out of 10.
So ladies and gentlemen what did you think of King Kong (2005), what would you rate it, are you excited for Kong: Skull Island and what did you think of my review? Let me know in the comments section below and let your voice be heard.
Jonah Sparks
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