I'm going to make a bold statement here, but I honestly think that Peter Jackson is this generation's Spielberg. And I didn't even like Lord of the Rings. King Kong is that good.
It's really hard for me to get into movies with a lot of special effects. If a movie has too many special effects, I tend to just zone out during it or wonder how they did this or that (Star Wars Ep. I-III, for example). But, Peter Jackson knows that the effects won't work without a good story, and he gives us that here. I mean, he doesn't even SHOW the monkey until over an hour into the movie. And this works for the same reason not seeing the shark in Jaws worked.
I really wasn't extremely interested in seeing this, but once I saw it, I see what all the hoopla was about. I really felt like I did when I watched Indiana Jones or something like that as a kid, just this complete sense of wonder and amazement, on top of being totally emotionally wrapped up in the story.
I say this whenever I see her, but I really think that Naomi Watts is one of the most beautiful women in the world. Jack Black pulled off a convincing serious performance. Adrien Brody was a little hard to buy as a nerdy screenwriter, but he sold it well enough for it to work.
I also liked that this version clearly had so much respect for the original. Nobody's more sick of remakes than me, but this was more of an homage than a remake. Jackson took what he felt was already great about the original and changed it just enough to be original while still clearly a love letter to the original. I loved that there was no cynicism or irony whatsoever in the movie, that when Jack Black says "it was beauty killed the beast," it's moving, not goofy like you'd think.
And, yes, the special effects are amazing, completely believable. But the best moments in the movie are the quiet ones. In my favorite scene in the movie, King Kong plays on a frozen lake in Central Park, full of wonder and innocence. And, sadly, I can add this to the massive pile of movies that made me tear up. And all this over a giant monkey.
This may be my favorite Peter Jackson movie (it's a close one between this and Heavenly Creatures), but if the guy can keep putting out movies like this, I would be willing to bet that he goes down as one of the greatest filmmakers of our time.
It's really hard for me to get into movies with a lot of special effects. If a movie has too many special effects, I tend to just zone out during it or wonder how they did this or that (Star Wars Ep. I-III, for example). But, Peter Jackson knows that the effects won't work without a good story, and he gives us that here. I mean, he doesn't even SHOW the monkey until over an hour into the movie. And this works for the same reason not seeing the shark in Jaws worked.
I really wasn't extremely interested in seeing this, but once I saw it, I see what all the hoopla was about. I really felt like I did when I watched Indiana Jones or something like that as a kid, just this complete sense of wonder and amazement, on top of being totally emotionally wrapped up in the story.
I say this whenever I see her, but I really think that Naomi Watts is one of the most beautiful women in the world. Jack Black pulled off a convincing serious performance. Adrien Brody was a little hard to buy as a nerdy screenwriter, but he sold it well enough for it to work.
I also liked that this version clearly had so much respect for the original. Nobody's more sick of remakes than me, but this was more of an homage than a remake. Jackson took what he felt was already great about the original and changed it just enough to be original while still clearly a love letter to the original. I loved that there was no cynicism or irony whatsoever in the movie, that when Jack Black says "it was beauty killed the beast," it's moving, not goofy like you'd think.
And, yes, the special effects are amazing, completely believable. But the best moments in the movie are the quiet ones. In my favorite scene in the movie, King Kong plays on a frozen lake in Central Park, full of wonder and innocence. And, sadly, I can add this to the massive pile of movies that made me tear up. And all this over a giant monkey.
This may be my favorite Peter Jackson movie (it's a close one between this and Heavenly Creatures), but if the guy can keep putting out movies like this, I would be willing to bet that he goes down as one of the greatest filmmakers of our time.
