Reviewing Movies

I recently re-watched Peter Jackson’s remake of King Kong in an attempt to see if it would improve any upon second viewing; it didn’t. I must confess I’ve yet to see the original but it would seem that even great movie directors can create the occasional turkey or in this case, gorilla.

Someone who managed to talk three movie studios out of nearly $1 Billion could certainly identify with the movie director here, the trouble is I can’t; the first section of this movie is pure tedium. The voyage on the tramp steamer seems to echo Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, which Jimmy has on “long term loan” from the New York Public Library.

When we get to the mysterious island we are treated to scenes that appear to be lifted straight out of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom but we are missing Indy’s whip and panache. We move on to Jurassic Park with dinos borrowed directly from Spielberg and from there enter an arachnid home planet torn from Starship Troopers but lacking Casper Van Diem for eye candy.

From there we jump directly to an extended three-hanky tear-jerker. The special effects are stunning, of course, but the storyline and the actors seem almost treated as items that most be gotten past until we get to the next big spectacle. Somehow the special effects don’t serve the plot; the plot is a device upon which to hang the special effects. Unfortunately Kong seems to be the most developed character in this piece, the rest are just pawns moved about the board whose lives are of indifferent concern to anyone.