Peter Jackson's King Kong
Peter Jackson’s King Kong
After his success with The Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson took on another ambitions project – a remake of the 1933 classic King Kong. The original Kong is a masterpiece in its own right. Tightly edited, with a compelling story line and, for it’s time, state-of-the-art effects, it remains a very watchable film. Jackson has long been fascinated with this film, and says that he always wanted to remake it. His previous successes gave him the clout (and budget – in Jackson’s hands, the new Kong may well be the most expensive film ever made) to take on this remake.
So, how did he do? Overall, pretty well. The film is full of marvelous moments, the characters (including Kong himself) are compelling, and much of the action astonishing. Yet, there are times when Jackson just went too far over the top. I shudder to hear myself say this, but at times there were too many dinosaurs. In fact, there were too many of everything at some points. Jackson seemed to be one (or more than one) upping the original. The original Kong fought a tyrannosaur; the new one fights three at once, in a much longer fight. The original Kong fought a pterodactyl; the new one fights a swarm of what look like giant vampire bats (why not pterodactyls?). The original Kong had a now lost sequence where a group of survivors must fight against giant spiders; in the new film, the survivors fight an over-the-top gathering of giant bugs of all sorts. And even where the original Kong grabs, then discards, one blonde in New York who he mistakes for Ann Darrow, the new Kong must discard multiple blondes.
But don’t let the above give you the wrong impression. This is still a good film (though one that could have been better if Jackson just reined himself in in a few places). It’s also very much of a movie fans film, with a number of references to the original film. Carl Denham (Jack Black) is, like in the original film, making a movie within the movie. In one scene, he actually films a scene from the original. When Kong is brought to New York and put, in chains, on stage, the act around him is a re-enactment of the native scene in the original, complete with the Max Steiner music. It’s a lot of fun.
But the films greatest achievement is the characterization of Kong. The original Kong was mostly a giant monster; we know he liked Ann, but there was no real tenderness there. The poor 1976 remake tried to humanize the ape a bit, but clumsily, and in the midst of bad dialog and effects. The new film succeeds, and in doing so succeeds in making both the character of Ann Darrow and the audience sympathize with him. Jackson takes an interesting twist to accomplish this. After Kong captures Darrow and brings her to his mountain home, he bellows at her. Her response – she’s a vaudeville performer as well as an actress – is to strut and perform back at him. He’s amused when she tumbles, and she begins to play on this, to gain his trust. When he takes it too far – he begins knocking her over, since he has found it funny to watch her fall down – she bellows back at him. He walks off, sulking, but the relationship has been established. He saves her, and the relationship is cemented. Because of this, we relate to Ann’s fear when Kong carries her up the Empire State Building: she doesn’t fear for herself. She knows that Kong is going to his death.
The film is also quite exciting in parts, though the excitement is diminished in a few places by the fact that Jackson takes it just a bit too far. Both the sauropod stampede and Kong’s fights with the tyrannosaurs would have been even more exciting had they actually been shorter. But the New York scenes are riveting, as are a number of the scenes on Skull Island.
Jackson puts a bit of a different spin on his characters than the original Kong did. The difference with Ann Darrow is pretty obvious. She reacts to Kong with more than fear and does more than scream. But Carl Denham is also played differently. Both Denham’s are showmen, both are trying to outrace their creditors to create a movie. But the original Denham had an underlying integrity that Jack Black’s Denham does not. When Robert Armstrong’s Denham in the 1933 film calls Ann the “bravest girl he’s ever known,” we take him at his word. He is serious, and while he may be many things, he is not a liar. For the new Denham, the line is simply part of the show. And while the original Denham knew that Ann would draw Kong back to the village, he would never deliberately put Ann and Jack in harm’s way in the manner Jack Black’s Denham does. What it really boils down to is that the Armstrong Denham was an adventurer who also shot movies, while the Black Denham is a businessman who also shoots movies.
In the end this is a fine film, but one that could have been even better had Jackson just trimmed a bit and not gone quite so overboard in a few places. .
After his success with The Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson took on another ambitions project – a remake of the 1933 classic King Kong. The original Kong is a masterpiece in its own right. Tightly edited, with a compelling story line and, for it’s time, state-of-the-art effects, it remains a very watchable film. Jackson has long been fascinated with this film, and says that he always wanted to remake it. His previous successes gave him the clout (and budget – in Jackson’s hands, the new Kong may well be the most expensive film ever made) to take on this remake.
So, how did he do? Overall, pretty well. The film is full of marvelous moments, the characters (including Kong himself) are compelling, and much of the action astonishing. Yet, there are times when Jackson just went too far over the top. I shudder to hear myself say this, but at times there were too many dinosaurs. In fact, there were too many of everything at some points. Jackson seemed to be one (or more than one) upping the original. The original Kong fought a tyrannosaur; the new one fights three at once, in a much longer fight. The original Kong fought a pterodactyl; the new one fights a swarm of what look like giant vampire bats (why not pterodactyls?). The original Kong had a now lost sequence where a group of survivors must fight against giant spiders; in the new film, the survivors fight an over-the-top gathering of giant bugs of all sorts. And even where the original Kong grabs, then discards, one blonde in New York who he mistakes for Ann Darrow, the new Kong must discard multiple blondes.
But don’t let the above give you the wrong impression. This is still a good film (though one that could have been better if Jackson just reined himself in in a few places). It’s also very much of a movie fans film, with a number of references to the original film. Carl Denham (Jack Black) is, like in the original film, making a movie within the movie. In one scene, he actually films a scene from the original. When Kong is brought to New York and put, in chains, on stage, the act around him is a re-enactment of the native scene in the original, complete with the Max Steiner music. It’s a lot of fun.
But the films greatest achievement is the characterization of Kong. The original Kong was mostly a giant monster; we know he liked Ann, but there was no real tenderness there. The poor 1976 remake tried to humanize the ape a bit, but clumsily, and in the midst of bad dialog and effects. The new film succeeds, and in doing so succeeds in making both the character of Ann Darrow and the audience sympathize with him. Jackson takes an interesting twist to accomplish this. After Kong captures Darrow and brings her to his mountain home, he bellows at her. Her response – she’s a vaudeville performer as well as an actress – is to strut and perform back at him. He’s amused when she tumbles, and she begins to play on this, to gain his trust. When he takes it too far – he begins knocking her over, since he has found it funny to watch her fall down – she bellows back at him. He walks off, sulking, but the relationship has been established. He saves her, and the relationship is cemented. Because of this, we relate to Ann’s fear when Kong carries her up the Empire State Building: she doesn’t fear for herself. She knows that Kong is going to his death.
The film is also quite exciting in parts, though the excitement is diminished in a few places by the fact that Jackson takes it just a bit too far. Both the sauropod stampede and Kong’s fights with the tyrannosaurs would have been even more exciting had they actually been shorter. But the New York scenes are riveting, as are a number of the scenes on Skull Island.
Jackson puts a bit of a different spin on his characters than the original Kong did. The difference with Ann Darrow is pretty obvious. She reacts to Kong with more than fear and does more than scream. But Carl Denham is also played differently. Both Denham’s are showmen, both are trying to outrace their creditors to create a movie. But the original Denham had an underlying integrity that Jack Black’s Denham does not. When Robert Armstrong’s Denham in the 1933 film calls Ann the “bravest girl he’s ever known,” we take him at his word. He is serious, and while he may be many things, he is not a liar. For the new Denham, the line is simply part of the show. And while the original Denham knew that Ann would draw Kong back to the village, he would never deliberately put Ann and Jack in harm’s way in the manner Jack Black’s Denham does. What it really boils down to is that the Armstrong Denham was an adventurer who also shot movies, while the Black Denham is a businessman who also shoots movies.
In the end this is a fine film, but one that could have been even better had Jackson just trimmed a bit and not gone quite so overboard in a few places. .
posted by Jim Mann at 9:00 PM
1 Comments:
watched it too! nice movie. i hope hollywood learns from jackson.
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