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FILM REVIEW - Monster of a movie: KING KONGKING KONG
 JUST about everybody knows the story here. Boy meets girl, they fall in
love and it all ends tragically. The only difference here is that the boy in
question is a 30ft gorilla named King Kong.
Peter Jackson’s remake of the 1933 classic shapes up very favourably indeed
and should appeal to all ages.
Basically the story is that film director Carl Denham (Jack Black) absconds
with half his company’s equipment to go in search of the mythical Skull
Island to save his flagging career.
Along the way he recruits out-of-work actress Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) and
virtually kidnaps scriptwriter Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody) in an effort to
make his perfect movie.
Following a mysterious map and shooting footage while on board Denham pays
scant respect to his cast and crew.
Fast forward to the discovery — almost accidentally — of the island and
that’s where the real adventure begins.
After almost running aground Denham leads his intrepid film makers ashore
and heads straight into some cannibals.
After a brief sortie which results in the deaths of a couple of crew, they
escape back to the ship and make ready to leave the island.
But the cannibals are not done yet with the intruders to their world and
raiding the ship they capture Ann Darrow to offer up to their god — King
Kong.
The scene is then set for the chase to rescue Darrow from the clutches of
the great ape encountering along the way all manner of deadly creatures in
the shape of man-eating dinosaurs, huge insects and vampire bats.
As the chase continues the relationship between Darrow and Kong builds and
by the time Driscoll rescues her it has become a three-way love triangle
with both Driscoll and Kong having fallen for the alluring woman.
Captured by the enterprising yet totally ruthless Denham in an effort to
recover his losses from the destroyed film Kong is brought back to New York
where he is displayed like a circus sideshow.
Of course Kong does not stay subdued for long and proceeds to tear the city
apart in his efforts to find the actress.
And so the climax builds to the spectacular finale atop the Empire State
Building.
Jackson’s version stays pretty close to the original in terms of storyline
but is, of course, streets ahead in terms of special effects. The CGI Kong,
dinosaurs and other creatures are superb.
As to the acting performances — Jack Black puts in probably his best turn
for some time. Known for his over-the-top comedic roles here he plays it
straight and it works very well.
Naomi Watts is glamorous as Ann Darrow and makes a good leading lady while
Adrien Brody plays his somewhat ‘wimpy’ character to good effect.
Andy Serkis (you probably know him as Gollum in The Lord Of The Rings films)
should also get a mention for his performance as King Kong.
Overall this is a great adventure movie with its humorous moments that will
leave you thrilled and is well worth seeing.
Phil Savva
n Starring Jack Black, Naomi Watts, Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Colin
Hanks and Andy Serkis.
Directed by Peter Jackson | 