King Kong

King Kong is a movie that I hate and a movie that I love too. It would be easy to attack Peter Jackson for making the movie three hours long, but I won’t get into that too much. I will say this; the 40-minute boat trip to the island wasn’t necessary. He could have easily cut it down to 20 mins.

The CGI shots of New York City are a sight to behold, and it further proves that CGI has come a long way. We actually get a feel for the city, which is set during the depression.

This is also where we meet the Hero/Villain of the movie, Jack Black. I will admit that I was one of the first people that grumbled at the notion of having funny-man Jack Black as one of the leads, but you know what, it works. Black sets the correct balance between funny and slimy, as he plays the director of the film within a film. One has to wonder if Black is playing a darker version of Peter Jackson.

The love story between the nerdy writer and the actress was one of my least favorite parts of the movie, and more time should have been focused on the interesting island.

James Newton Howard did the Score to Kong. For the most part, the score works. Giving that, unlike Howard Shore, he only had three weeks to write and direct the score to the movie, I can’t complain that much. Yet, I still think Shore would have given the movie an extra brassy push that JNH lacks. Remember, JNH is more of a strings kind of guy. One can only wish Shore’s rejected score will someday see the light of day, because it was completed.

For better or worst, the movie is collection of set pieces. There are two set pieces worth noting.

The Bug Pit

This has got to be one of the creepiest scenes I’ve seen in a PG-13 movie. I can’t stand bugs, so watching giant size grasshoppers attempting to eat some of the characters, just made me uneasy. If you add man-eating slugs and other nasty creatures, you have what Peter Jackson does best. You can tell Peter Jackson enjoyed filming that scene.

The T-Rex vs. Kong scene

Again, this is what Jackson does best. I won’t give away what happens, but I loved every minute of it.

While the movie had major problems during the useless boat trip, it is the end I have the most problems with. King Kong’s trek through the city is interesting, but drags on when he’s on top of the building, fighting planes. It was at this point I wanted to push Kong off the building to get the movie over with.

In the end, fun movie, but it was disappointing as well.

Grade B-