kong is king

we saw king kong last night. i’ve been trying to figure out what to say about it. aside from:

wow.

ok, yes, it’s long. really long. at 3 hours+, possibly a little too long.

but boy, does it look good. fantastic. incredible. there are so many incredible action scenes that just look gorgeous and amazing. the visual effects may be the best i’ve ever seen. in anything. yes, including lords. or spidermen. or matrixexexes.

i’m not sure what they should have cut out, but i can certainly see how they got to the current length:

producer: peter, we’ve got to cut out something. it’s too long! sure, it’s great, but it’s too long!
peter: yeah, but look at this scene. it looks fantastic!
producer: yeah, it really does. damn.
peter: plus, i made everyone a boatload of money on rings. so everyone shut the hell up.
producer: …

assorted ramblings:

• the new yorker’s right: this version of kong is different in that while the beast has always loved the beauty, for the first time the beauty loves the beast back. they use andy serkis’ ape-acting to great effect here, as now he’s portrayed with a new depth, giving the relationship a new dimension and adding to the weight of the doomed romance.
  
• watching adrien brody scramble up sheer cliff faces, i couldn’t help but wonder if this is the result of the 21st century “modern ideal man” or just a screenwriter’s conceit: the hero this time is not the swashbuckling sailor, but the nebbish playwright.
  
• as much as i loved and was amazed and astounded by the effects, there are the scenes where it’s almost laughably too much: the bugs. then the flesh-eating worms. then the giant scorpions. and then the vengeful squirrels. and the irritated ducks. and the petulant platypi. you end up feeling like you’re watching jurassic park 4: from the cutting room floor, just because the dinosaurs just keep on coming. and coming. and coming.

whatever you do, go see this film. in the theatre. find the largest screen you can possibly find (the arclight cinerama dome works nicely) and go see it. because it does look fantastic.

Posted at December 23, 2005 11:12 PM