I first heard that Peter Jackson was going to be remaking KING KONG way back in college. A friend of mine was grumbling that the only reason Jackson was making the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy was because he was trying to convince the studio to let him make KING KONG. This of course really set everyone off. Several of my friends felt that THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING was not all it could have been because it was in the hands of an “incompetent director” who did not really care about the books. But I was secretly intrigued. I mean, sure, FELLOWSHIP had its problems. The camera got out of hand at times, and some of the editing choices were questionable, but all in all, I was really extremely impressed with Jackson’s work. His ability to create epic battle sequences and grand vistas while at the same time being able to so perfectly capture the smaller moments needed to get the audience personally invested in the characters is something that few directors have been able to do.

As the LOTR trilogy carried on, Jackson’s directorial skills evolved and by the end, he had proven himself to be one of the very best. After I had recovered from the incredible grief that came from seeing the LOTR trilogy come to an end, I began winding myself up for his next epic: KING KONG.

To say this is a big movie would be an understatement. This movie is huge. The monsters are huge, the fights are huge, New York is huge, and the story is huge. And it is the sheer size that is the films major weakness.

**SPOILER ALERT! If you have not seen this movie, do not read further, just go see it. Then you can come back and tell me where I am wrong.**

This film is completely unrestrained. The fight sequences are big and long and there are certain moments that are on the one hand really kick ass, and on the other hand, ridiculously silly…even for a movie starring a giant monkey. Sure you should expect to suspend your disbelief to a great degree while watching this film, but the battle between Kong and the V-Rexes as they fall off the cliff and fight their way down the vines to the forest floor is just a bit much…

…and the slug things are a bit much, and the Brontosaurus pile-up is a bit much, and the giant bats attacking Kong are a bit much, and Kong sliding around on the ice with Ann is a bit much. (And of course the centipede in the log is out of place and totally screws up the grand entrance of the V-Rex)

These elements aren’t really bad. They don’t ruin the experience; they just seem unnecessary more than anything. Thanks to Weta’s groundbreaking digital effects technology, Jackson can do basically anything he wants on Skull Island, and like a kid Playing with his toys in a sandbox, Jackson doesn’t allow “reality” to spoil the fun. In some ways It is these sequences that really let you know that Jackson loves Skull Island. He loves the primal, unrestrained nature of the island. It’s every creature for itself, and the struggle for survival is constant and ferocious. It’s obvious that he has been playing this movie out over, and over in his head for years, just waiting for the day when he could sit at the head of a long table of effects artists with his script in his hand and hundreds of millions in his pocket and just simply say to them: Do it. You gotta smile when you watch this film. You gotta love the spectacle of it all. Even if the sheer absurdity tends to at times take you out of the moment for a bit.

The movie is also a bit long too. And I know that a lot has been made about how long the movie is. It makes me roll my eyes when I hear some idiot on radio or TV talk about how a movie is just “sooooooooo long”. Anything over two and a half hours ceases to be enjoyment and becomes work for most people I guess. But really, the movie is a bit long. Or, atleast it feels that way. But I cannot really decide what should have been cut out. There are a few sub plots that lead nowhere. One in particular with a couple members of the ships crew, I am surprised that didn’t get axed early in the writing process. Also, a lot has been made about how we don’t get to the island for an hour and I do not mind that at all. It builds up the anticipation. Plus, we need that time to setup Carl Denham’s character, and the Jack and Ann dynamic.

The Jack and Ann relationship is a great one by the way. It doesn’t feel forced and it develops to just the right point before the two characters are separated. One of my favorite moments of the film is when Ann meets back up with the rest of the crew. There is a moment on the outside of the gates, when it seems like it might all be over, Jack and Ann exchange a glance and they realize in that moment that after the experience they went through on the island, they are now two totally different people and that any feelings they may have felt for each other were now simply a distant memory of something that might have been, but could now, never be. It’s all played with a simple look. And it’s brilliant.

Jack Black as Carl Denham was an excellent choice as well. I was worried, but Jack pulled it off wonderfully. All of the early production footage I had seen of Jack made it seem that the filmakers were going for a real Orson Wells vibe and I am glad to see that was in fact the case. (infact, some friends I went to see the movie with mentioned the similarity to me while we were watching the film. So there are at least three of us who caught that.) Jack does a good job keeping Denham from feeling like a single minded robot of a character. In Peter Jackson’s film Denham is a man driven by his fear of failure and his desire for success. Not money. I imagine there is more of Jackson in the character of Denham than he would lead us to believe.

The effects are, of course, unparalleled. Simply put, Kong is real. I mean, Gollum was great, He was a completely believable character, he sold you on his performance, but he still felt kind of like a cartoon. It’s as if he could only exist in the universe of the LORD OF THE RINGS. Kong on the other hand is absolutely real. I tip my hat to both the work of Andy Serkis who played Kong on the Motion Capture Stage, and the animators who really brought Kong to life through their subtle manipulation of Kong’s expression.

The scene where Kong and Ann connect with each other for the first time on the cliff is perfect. Everything that has come before in the world of visual effects has lead up to that point. It is the single greatest moment in the history of effects.

It will be interesting to see what happens come Oscar time. Personally, KONG has my vote for Original Screenplay, Set Design, Editing, Soud Editing, Special Effects (duh), and I wouldn’t mind a nomination for Best Movie. I honestly think that The Academy should give the Oscar for Best Actor to Andy Serkis and the artists at Weta Digital for their work on Kong. But that will never happen.

I could go on talking about this movie forever but I won’t. In short, it’s a flawed film, but you will be hard pressed to remember the last time you had this much fun watching any movie. It does what it was meant to do better than nearly every other film out there.

I give it a very enthusiastic 4 out of 5 stars.

-Matt