Like many moviegoers last winter, I just never got around to seeing Peter Jackson's King Kong. I'm not saying the film was a flop at the box office, but everyone seemed to agree that it didn't do nearly as well as expected. With the film now on DVD here in the Spring where it seems better suited, I'm guessing it will become a bigger hit in people's living rooms than it was in theaters.

The film itself is frustrating because parts of it are very well done and quite entertaining, while other parts are horribly boring and overdone. I think overdone is the key word, as Peter Jackson has completely lost any sense of restraint as a director and just seems to want to cram in as much as possible, making the movie a good 30-to-40 minutes longer than it should have been (three hours works for a World War II movie like Saving Private Ryan, but for King Kong it's simply ridiculous).

The movie can be divided into three parts: before the island, on the island, and back in New York City after they capture Kong. My biggest issue was the middle part of the movie when they arrive to the island and suddenly it's a special effects extravaganza. As impressive as the CGI stuff is, there's simply way too much of it and Jackson shoves more and more of it down our throats. One minute it's dinosaurs, the next it's giant bugs, and by the time they finally get off the island my level of interest was flailing. Which is really too bad, because the final hour is easily the best part of the film and overall makes it worth watching. Naomi Watts in particular does an excellent job of making us care about King Kong, saving the film from becoming a heartless technological demonstration.

At the end of the day I recommend King Kong even if you've seen previous versions, but make sure you're in a patient mood or you may be compelled to fast-forward through parts of it.

Posted April 03, 2006 | link