King Kong - The 8th Wonder Of The World

I have watched King Kong since Friday but I am still speechless. How do I write a review that befits a King? Oh, incidentally, the King and I share the same surname. But that’s about all we have in common because the silly, lovesick and bad-tempered beast has totally opposite characteristics from this fair maiden. Peter Jackson really did justice to this 1933 remake and lived up to a standard which he himself has set. If you haven’t watched a single movie this year, then this is the ONE. In fact, I am not sure I’ll ever watch another movie with the same perspective again. Well worth watching in the theater and you will leave the cinema wanting more even after 3 hours. Plus, the THX will definitely blow you away!

Well, if you have watched the trailer (which I have watched more than 20 times now thanks to little Bryan), then you already have an idea what to look forward to. The story line is all there, a desperate director (Jack Black of Shallow Hal fame) cons his ignorant film crew to make a movie on an uncharted island, where King Kong and other huge strange creatures lives. The crew were “greeted” with extreme adventures when their lead actress was captured and presented to the giant ape as a sacrificial offering. How King Kong ended up on top of the Empire States building (the ever popular scene), fighting off what he thought was strange flying creatures, is what you need to find out yourself… :)

However, to really enjoy the show, you have to throw your logic out of the window. Seriously, I had a hard time accepting the illogical sequence of the movie that I wasn’t able to totally lose myself and enjoy the non-stop “monstrous” adventures. While I was kept on edge of my seat most of the time by the superb special effects (well, also partially because of a dilated bladder), I couldn’t really accept how these people manage to find each other let alone rescue Miss Ann Darrow (played nicely by Naomi Watts) in that massive Skull Island. I also couldn’t feel the love/romance between beauty and the beast which Peter Jackson said is the most touching scene he has ever made. Maybe it’s because I am not an animal lover (please don’t throw red paint at me). Or maybe Peter Jackson made comparison with his other films which were mostly horror flicks (The Frighteners) or adventure epics (LOTR). The fact that my movie partner was sobbing her eyeballs out right beside me didn’t move me. Even the droopy-eyed ever-so-kind Andrien Brody (of The Pianist, The Village and The Jacket fame), who played The screenwriter Jack Driscoll that Ann Darrow fell in love with before the interception of the huge mammal, didn’t manage to set even a tiny tug to my heartstrings.

Kudos to the Weta Workshop Team (who created special effects for Narnia – now that explains why King Kong cameo in Narnia) for generating screen-magic again in this mega-movie by making all the spectacular CGIs seamless. Of course Andy Serkis (Gollum in LOTR) made King Kong very much “alive” and projected King Kong’s character (childish, infatuated, playful, lonely and hot-tempered all in one big gigantic furry suit) very appropriately with “virtual reality” technology.

Oh, a funny thing happened after the movie. It really wasn’t a day for the Kongs. First King Kong died, and then later I couldn’t find my car in the midst of the hundreds who throng 1 Utama’s new wing for a glimpse of the “8th Wonder of the World”. I was so sure I parked near Parkson and it was my friend who was the panicky one as she thought she will never find her car after they closed all the shop entrances after 11pm. Ends up, Miss Fret found her car easily while Miss Confident had to go from floor to floor and had to summon Miss Fret (who was already out of the parking lot and happily driving to her next destination) back into the car park to help me find my car. Took me 45 minutes to find my car and by then, my car park ticket has already expired and I couldn’t get out. Later, I found out that all I needed to do was to reinsert the ticket back into the Autopay machine for a reprint (no extra charges) to reinstate the expired ticket. Oh well, at least I learnt something out of this. “It wasn’t the over-crowding of cars that camouflage my car, it was over-confidence” (as opposed to Jack Black's final line, “It wasn’t the airplane that killed the beast, it was Beauty!”) Ha ha. Incidentally, I just found out that Fay Wray (the original actress in King Kong 1933) was supposed to cameo in this movie and deliver that particular last line but she passed away before the negotiations were finalized.

Have a Merry Xmas & Happy New Year.

Kelly Rivers.

(note: all pictures are courtesy of imdb.com)