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By
WAYNE KLEIN
Peter Jackson's epic
retelling of "King Kong" may run a bit too long at
nearly 3 hours but it's an admirable and fun
adventure well worth taking. Filled with wondrous
Oscar winning visual effects, "Kong" is, indeed,
the 8th Wonder of the World in this marvelous
movie. Jackson manages to recreate the world of
1933 New York perfectly in this rollicking roller
coaster of an adventure. Like the original 1933
classic Jackson and his crew of visual effects
artists (along with a strong cast) give "Kong" a
sense of reality even as we see all the fantastic
events in the film. By the way the dialogue scene
where they are shooting the "movie" on the boat
with Bruce Baxter (Kyle Chandler who has a lot of
fun with the role) is taken directly from the
original 1933 "King Kong."
Carl Denham (Jack Black "School of Rock") a
producer about to be arrested by people who
invested in his only partially finished movie
receives a map leading to a previously uncharted
island--Skull Island. He hopes to take his new
leading lady Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts "The Ring") a
down on her luck actress to the island to shoot a
script by famous playwright Jack Driscoll (Adrien
Brody of "The Jacket" and "The Pianist"). Denham
and his crew aren't quite ready for the dangerous
natives of Skull Island or the giant 35 foot tall
Silverback Gorilla--Kong--that the natives plan on
sacrificing to Kong. Now it's up to Driscoll and
the crew of the ship to fight dinosaurs, giant
bugs and the island itself to try and save Darrow.
Denham has a crazy idea when he loses the reels to
his film--he'll bring Kong back to New York where
he'll make millions ("I'll share it all with you
boys").
The DVD looks marvelous with a faithful
reproduction of the original theatrical
exhibition. No doubt this version will be
superceded by the HD-DVD edition when it comes out
later in the year or even the multi-disc set
planned for November (reportedly even longer than
this edition). I don't know how much more story
Jackson has to tell with "Kong" but this edition
of the film more than fits the bill when it comes
to entertainment.
The 2-disc edition is the one to get if you enjoy
extras. We get an introduction by Jackson
discussing the film and how the 1933 original
inspired him to become a filmmaker so, in many
respects, this is his chance to pay the makers of
that film back. We also get "Post-Production
Diaries" most of which were originally on the
website for "Kong" providing a glimpse
behind-the-scenes in the visual effects and other
effects created for the film. "Kong's New York,
1933 feature a discussion of the importance that
vaudeville and other entertainment played in
distracting a city in the middle of the
depression. We also hear about the skyscraper boom
and the Empire State Building construction all of
which helped the city's inhabitants earn a living
during a difficult time in our history. "Skull
Island-A Natural History" is a tongue-in-cheek
look at the "real" Skull Island. It's very much in
the vein of his fictional documentary "Forgotten
Silver" and is a treat. Jackson and his production
crew discuss the "reel life" dinosaurs found on
the island in the 30's and how that inspired their
film.
While there isn't a commentary track for the film
(we'll get that on the deluxe edition in
November), the extras included here are a lot of
fun to go through. This is definitely worthwhile.
Is it better than the 1933 original film or the
1977 remake? That's up to you to decide but
Jackson makes a memorable contemporary update of
Kong retelling the story for a modern audience
while staying true to the film's roots. |
