message in the movies By Rev. Bruce Batchelor Glader

          

King Kong Rated PG-13

Directed by Peter Jackson. Starring Naomi Watts, Jack Black.  

Photo © Copyright Universal Pictures
Now that we have the technology to preserve film stock, classic films have a staying power in our consciousness that almost transcends time.  “King Kong” is one of those movies, a film that made history in 1933 with its amazing special effects and a story that was both terrifying and tender.  Director Peter Jackson had long admired the original film and hoped to make a new version some day.  With the mega-money earned with his “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, he was finally able to make this movie – and it is quite a movie!  Jackson insisted on setting his version in the same time frame as the original, and his computer-assisted recreation of New York’s Time Square is jaw-droppingly magnificent.  As in the original, a rag-tag bunch of movie makers wind up at mysterious Skull Island where a tribe worships a giant ape.  Before Kong is captured, there are other scary inhabitants to fight off.  Aspiring actress Ann Darrow (Watts) will also develop a tender friendship with the ape. In this version, Kong is her protector and friend; we are spared from the non-stop screaming that Fay Wray contributed to the earlier version.  Jack Black hams it up as minor movie director Carl Denham, Adrien Brody is sincere and brave as the writer who falls in love with Ann, and Andy Serkis (who did the body movements for Gollum in the LOTR films) gives Kong a soul.  My only quibble is that this film is the equivalent of the Super-Size Meal – there is more here than one ought to ingest in one sitting. It takes forever for our friends to get to Skull Island and, once there, it takes forever to get off!  There’s not a whole lot of momentum in the story arch, so most of the time the movie seems to be running in place.  But it’s still a lot of fun for what it is.  Along with computer-animated monsters, the film also utilizes miniatures, puppets, and all kinds of special effects.  It’s a movie nerd’s paradise! Two warnings: 1) It is 3 hours long – I recommend a bathroom break about 50 minutes into the film, while they’re in the storm on the way to Skull Island (the scene goes on forever; you won’t miss much and be good to go for the rest of the film); and 2) There are big scares in this film that do not involve King Kong (and some truly horrifying creatures on Skull Island) which make this film very inappropriate for younger children (under the age of 10).

Pitchfork Rating: Two halos. (A big-hearted and often bombastic fantasy film that nevertheless provides a great deal of mindless fun, if no particularly deep message.)     Two pitchforks.  (It goes without saying that the native stereotypes are offensive, but I was surprised at how often the Lord’s name is used as an expletive in this film; there is also a great deal of creature feature mayhem and violence and a bit of wink-wink-nudge-nudge girlie show images.)

 

 

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