KING KONG Best Thriller, 2005 - 4 stars Great Special Effects Roller Coaster Ride, But Not Much Else I went to this film with mixed expectations. On the one hand, it was a Peter Jackson film (Lord of the Rings), so I knew it would have high production values. On the other, with all the hype and over $200 M budget, I knew it was bound to be typically formulaic, slick Hollywoodland fare. As it turned out, it was formulaic and slick, but also an extremely entertaining roller coaster ride of a movie. When it starts out, we are treated to a wonderful re-creation of depression era New York City, a tip-of-the-hat to the original 1933 Marian C. Cooper film. We meet renegade filmmaker Carl Denham - played without distinction by comedian Jack Black - who realizes he's considered washed-up by his business associates and has to come up with a way to redeem himself. He discovers out-of-work actress Ann Darrow - played enchantingly by Naomi Watts - and talks her into going with him on an old freighter to Singapore, where he says he will be shooting his next film. In reality, he's headed for Skull Island, a mysterious, undiscovered place the superstitious crew have heard of and are convinced they won't return from. At this point, everything seems tame and predictable - but nothing could be further from the truth. Carl Denham has a plan to salvage his career, and he's willing to stoop to any level and sacrifice anybody to do it. He has mislead his leading lady; kidnapped his writer, playwright Jack Driscoll - well played by Adrien Brody; deceived the ship's captain, Englehorn - played decently by Thomas Kretschmann; and is fleeing his associates, his creditors and the law. Carl is an opportunist, a user and a liar, which was not true of the original Carl Denham. Everyone on board the freighter is ready to part company with the conniving showman, especially the captain, when they enter a fog. Where they end up - fortuitously for Denham - is Skull Island. Now the tone changes. The first thing our little party of filmmakers experience is an horrific ordeal with the island's natives, perhaps the most blood-curdling depiction of devil-worship ever. Now we realize what we're in for - but it's too late to extract ourselves because we're hooked. We, like Denham, have to find out what's beyond the great wall the natives have built. After Kong steals the sacrificed Ann, we follow him into the jungle and find out that it's a prehistoric world, untouched by civilization. One of the most enjoyable scenes is when the filmmakers and crew come across some grazing dinosaurs. Something spooks them, and the herd starts stampeding in the direction of our party. They try to get away, but soon find themselves all mixed in with this pell-mell mob, dodging giant feet and teeth and rushing headlong down a hill as the monsters step on and fall over each other. They finally come to the bottom of the hill, which ends in a hairpin turn over a cliff that many of them fail to negotiate - and so over they go. Then the cliff starts collapsing under the weight of all those gigantic beasts and people - so more go over. It has to be one of the most exciting scenes ever filmed. One of the least enjoyable scenes is when our party find themselves in a swamp, being attacked by giant bugs. The filmmakers used every means at their disposal to terrify and gross us out. When I saw that scene, I knew I would not be purchasing the DVD. It was too much and unnecessary. There were other thrilling scenes in the jungle, as well as touching scenes between the beauty, Ann, and the beast, Kong. When she tries to get on the good side of Kong by entertaining him with some of her vaudeville routine, it is both funny and pathetic. But of course, by this time, we're ready to get back to New York City with Kong and see what happens when he escapes. Once he's been captured, the filmmakers whisk us away to Times Square and the theater where Kong is going to have his big debut. This part of the film reminded me a lot of Phantom of the Opera. It was very effective, with Kong, of course, escaping and reeking havoc in Times Square. I loved the yellow cabs. A fun touch was having Kong find Ann, and together go rollicking through Central Park, ending on a frozen pond where they play around on the ice. The final scene on the Empire State Building is good, but as Naomi Watts is continually trying to climb to the top of the building to be with Kong, and he is continually trying to place her somewhere safe, I'm thinking, "He's got more sense than she does." Nothing in the film explains her obsession with him, or her lack of fear climbing up the Empire State Building. The biggest disappointment of all was when Kong was finally killed by the attacking airplanes, and falls to the streets below. I didn't feel any pity for him. I didn't feel anything, and I'm a big lover of animals and a big crybaby at movies. I was really stunned by this, that the filmmakers had failed so completely to move me. For special effects and a good visual roller coaster ride, this movie is a success. As far as a good story with well-developed characters, interesting dialogue and meaningful plot, it is a flop. Once again Hollywoodland has proven that a big budget doesn't guarantee a great movie. Story, script and acting do. Waitsel Smith, December 20, 2005 Text © 2005 Waitsel Smith. Image © 2005 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.

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