Opinions on King Kong.

[Skyryder]

Subject matter is not of much interest to me. Saw the shorts, shit that shows my age sorry trailer, which raises an interesting question. I thought trailers followed from the rear, but with movies they come out from the front. Another American oxymoron. Anway back to Kong. I'll probably go and see it on the big screen if for no other reason than to support some home grown industry. Bloody hard these days with the banks, supermarkets, and the Mall shops overseas owned.

Skyryder

[oldrider]

Subject matter is not of much interest to me. Saw the shorts, shit that shows my age sorry trailer, which raises an interesting question. I thought trailers followed from the rear, but with movies they come out from the front. Another American oxymoron. Anway back to Kong. I'll probably go and see it on the big screen if for no other reason than to support some home grown industry. Bloody hard these days with the banks, supermarkets, and the Mall shops overseas owned.

Skyryder

I don't care who owns what. I just want quality service!
Why support crap. The story was crap the first time for me too.
I might go to see the advances they have made in the animation though. John.

[skelstar]

Is this a movie review thread or what?

I went and saw it last night. My impressions are (spoliers):

1. Naomi was terrible in the first part of the film (caberet etc) but got a bit better. Adrien was good. Jack was ok. Well cast but had a bit too much JB intensity sometimes.
2. It was a struggle trying to fit the Jamie Bell storyline into it. I know it was to setup the bond between him and Hayes/Hanes/Big guy, but it was a bit stretchy,
3. Was very impressed by the natives. Not so impressed by the style of shot he used sometimes ie the low framerate/slow-mo shot (like when the big native got shot).
4. Like the 'kong-cam' technique. Dont see that very often in flicks. Worked very well in the dino-fight etc.
5. Thought the kong-darrow familiarisation scene was excellent. I was totally immersed in that scene and Jackson sold the concept to me wholesale. For this it gets cred.
6. I thought there was a little too many creepy-crawly/monster/large creature scenes. There could have been less centepedes and we would have bought the idea of it being a special island.
7. Dafe: I too was a bit disturbed/disgusted with the brutality on which the seamen (yeah yeah) inflicted on Kong. But to be honest im sure that its only a mechanism for garnering sympathy from the audience. I just wish it hadnt been so intense. The grapling hook/harpoon scenes were a bit rough.
8. The theatre scene and New York chase scene was excellent. I loved it when Kong is struggling in his bonds and the faux darrow goes from hamming it up to really wanting to bolt. Excellent.
9. Scene on top of the ES building was great. Some of the shots of the Curtis Helldivers were a bit dodgy, but ultimately turned out good.
10. The 'good bye' shot and the sliding off the building was very 'Titanic'. Was surprised that Kong didnt say 'you grow old and have lots of babies', but then some of you are struggling with the fact that Kong was taller than 8ft.
11. Cheesey 'beauty killed the beast line'.

Lastly, Im staggered at the amount of work that goes into these types of movies. I watched every single video diary that PJ was running during the filming of this movie and I was still very surprised at how much content there was. I sometimes think that in this world full of poverty and guys and girls that cant afford to buy a 2006 Yammy R6, is it a good use of money and resources? But then I justify the cost by seeing the movie and giving my 2c worth.

[edit] I should say that yes I did enjoy the movie. It was a bit hot in the cinema and I was in my MC gear. Ill buy the DVD. Narnia was shit...but then it was a kids movie. This most certainly is not.

[SlashWylde]

N.B Spoilers contained herein:

Well I saw the film last Friday night with some friends, and it gave rise to many thoughts and feelings which I thought I'd share.

Some people have commented on its lack of credibility. Well, it's a monster movie. There's gonna be lots of big scary creatures that would never exist in reality due to mass and bone size etc...then again the dinosaurs managed it for a few million years so why couldn't Kong? Point being, suspension of disbelief is crucial with a film such as this. Don't take it TOO seriously, It's a fanciful story made to entertain and amaze, and in that respect it worked well. To really enjoy it you really have to let go of the adult impulse to criticise and just be a kid again and be spellbound by the storyteller.

I found the notion of Kong being fascinated by and wanting to possess a white blonde female sacrifice, as opposed to tearing apart the native sacrifices was quite interesting. One could read a lot into that but the most sensible argument is to say that Kong found something unique in Ann Darrow and was captivated by her. She then recognised this, and played on it till she realised he meant her no harm.

Also the concept of human/animal role reversal was interesting. The crew of the ship strays into this primitive and hostile world where man is not wanted and is no longer the master of his environment, and Darrow suddenly finds herself thrust into the role of 'plaything' and 'amusement' for her new master, the gorilla. However she quickly adapts and finds a way to survive and even enjoy the beauty, peace, and company of this fabulous beast and his kingdom. Later the gorilla is sedated, captured and it is he who finds himself in the bewildering world of the concrete jungle, unable to survive without her help - the captive becomes saviour and vice versa.

Another interesting scene was where the three predatory dinosaurs were frantically trying to get their teeth into Ann Darrow whilst Kong was doing his best to fend them off. One could see this as a metaphor for three rapists trying to get at the helpless maiden whilst the muscular hero risks life and limb to vanquish them - a timeless allegory. In this sense the delicate feminine aspect of Ann Darrow in her pure white garb is contrasted against the rough, dark, hairy and powerful masculine aspect of the King Kong. It would be easy to say this is a nod to the Chinese concept of Yin and Yang but the colour relationships are inverted here.

Emotionally, the beauty Darrow and Kong saw in each other as they made a connection was quite moving, and reflected the way apes and humans connect in real life. What all the stupid single-minded male characters consistently failed to realise was that Darrow was a perfectly capable woman and didn’t really need rescuing, because the beast actually meant her no harm. If anything it was the beast that needed rescuing from the men by the woman – another amusing role reversal. Typically the male characters and New Yorkers were shown to be narrow-minded fools bent on destruction of a unique and wondrous animal plucked from a unique ecosystem, echoing the legacy of humanities plunder of the world’s flora and fauna over the centuries.

Possibly one of the most moving parts of the film came in the last few minutes where Kong is clinging desperately to the top of the Empire State building having just been shot in the back by the air force pilots. He knows he can’t win this fight, and as he shares one last tender moment with Darrow you see the light subtly, almost imperceptibly go out in his eyes. You see the moment of his death in his visage rather than the old cinematic cliché of the hands going limp and the hero simply slipping away – very impressive Mr Jackson.

One thing which did bother me, was the point shortly after Kong slips off the Empire State when Jack Driscoll finally makes it to the top of the tower to valiantly attempt to rescue his damsel for the nth time. And again he fails to realise that she doesn’t need rescuing, that she’s perfectly all right, and could people just please stop trying to shoot her big hairy friend thankyou very much. I expected her to voice her strong disapproval of all this misplaced male chivalry by turning her back on him and looking away. Unfortunately this isn’t the way Jackson wrote the scene and instead she falls, after a moment’s hesitation, into Driscolls pithy waiting embrace. Bleah!

The other part which was just too cheesy was Denham’s parting comment to the effect that it was “beauty wot killed the beast”. Yes the film is supposed to be comic book and a kids story, but after such a poignant scene, that quip kinda spoilt the ending. Oh well…

Overall I loved the film, as you can probably tell. Yet again Jackson and Co. have turned out another stunning blockbuster of epic proportions, with a fantastic story and killer graphics so good you forget the gorilla is just a conglomeration of pixels, but instead relate to him as just another character and thoroughly enter into the diegesis of the story.

[oldrider]

Holy shit even with your heartfelt rendition, the story line is still crap! John.

[Mooch]

Wife and I saw it this evening, both thoroughly enjoyed the movie, compare well to the original, far better than the seventies version. Saw it at a decent theatre along with another 1500 or so in the audience. People were clapping and cheering at the end, which summed it up nicely. Normally go to the movies to be entertained which this move did. For me, movie of the year.

[SPORK]

I just got back from seeing it.

For simply ridiculous over the top action, watch this movie.

Everything after Kong gets taken to NY is a bunch of over dramatised crap. The end pretty much has Jackson whispering to you "this is emotional drama". Sure it made the girls cry, but I've seen sadder. Maybe I'm just too hardarse. Yeah, that'd be it.

[vixter]

yeah was abit dissapointed in the narnia one it was one of my favourite books when i was a kid expected more i guess

[DMNTD:Me]

I took my 8y/o and 12y/o to see it last week. Bloody hell it is long!
Fantastic movie we all thought,great effects yet it could/should of been 30-45mins shorter. Couldn't wait for it to finish

...Everything after Kong gets taken to NY is a bunch of over dramatised crap.

...definately agreed! Put a downer on the movie.
In saying that I would recommend it to someone else for shear fun