King Kong is a 2005 film directed by Peter Jackson and it stars Naomi Watts, Adrien Brody, Jack Black, Thomas Kretschmann, Colin Hanks, Andy Serkis, Kyle Chandler, Evan Parke, and Jamie Bell. The film is about a film crew that goes to the mysterious Skull Island for filming where they encounter Kong who becomes attracted to lead actress Ann Darrow. The film did well at the box office and it has won 3 Academy Awards!
Opening Thoughts:
Around 2005, I remember seeing the 2006 Academy Awards and saw King Kong earning a couple of awards. I was really interested in seeing the film once I saw it won a couple of Oscars. My mom got the DVD for me so my entire family and I has seen it many times. I grew up watching this movie and I believe this is the first longest movie that I grew up watching since the film is about 3 hours. I’ve seen the film countless of times and still to this day I appreciate and love the film. This is the only Peter Jackson movie that I grew up watching. I did not grow up watching The Lord of the Rings unfortunately. But I love that franchise as well no doubt. But The Lord of the Rings will be talked about more when the time comes with those reviews or anything related to the franchise. I got the 4k bluray of King Kong recently, so I’m looking forward to seeing the film again and see how it looks in 4k!
The Positives:
The main great thing about the 2005 King Kong movie is the story. In the middle act of the film, you see Kong being attracted to Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) and he does anything he can to protect her from danger. The fighting scenes between Kong and the T-Rex at Skull Island is really top notch. The last act of the film where Kong is looking for Ann Darrow in 1930’s Manhattan and spending time with her on top of the Empire State Building were beautiful moments that made the film come to life.
There was great character development with Ann, Carl Denham (Jack Black) and even Kong. At first you see Ann being scared and does not want anything to do with Kong when she is caputured by him. However as the film progresses, you see she also gets drawn to Kong and she feels good being around him. Carl Denham who is the director for his special film has great character development as well. You see him first being attached to his film project and he’ll do anything to make it be successful. However when he brings the captured Kong to broadway and sees it was a disaster, I think he realized that his task to make Kong to be a great broadway hit was a failure and there’s no alternative. I think he realized he cannot mess with Kong once he saw that disaster at the broadway show. So in a way I think he did change which showed good character development. Kong also had great development as a character. At first you see him as a ferocious ape that will do anythiing to defend his habitat and himself but then you see he has actual feelings for a human being which happens to be Ann Darrow. I don’t know how much more amazing can it get than that.
The last act of the film where Kong is fighting the airplanes and protecting Ann Darrow at the Empire State Building wasa memorable moment of the film. The scene where Kong sees Ann Darrow for the last time before dropping and dying on the street floor from the Empire State Building was another memorable moment. The last scene where Carl tells someone “It wasn’t the airplanes. It was Beauty Killed the Beast.” was the definite highlight of the film. That line spoken by Carl showed how amazing this movie is and sums up the entire story of the film in general. That scene reminded me of the 90’s Beauty and the Beast Animated Disney movie because both share similar concepts. It doesn’t matter if you are a human being because animals (in this case an ape) can learn to love someone as well. They can have the same feelings that a regular human being always have. This film conveyed this beautiful message in a flawless way. The way this film was executed was top notch. The Cinemetography and film score was solid as well.
The Negatives:
I actually have no issues with this movie but only one nitpick. My major nitpick with this movie is that the first act was really slow and I thought it could’ve picked up the pace a little better. I thought the movie did not need to be about three hours long. However that first act was needed to be in the film so I can understand why. If that first act of the film did not happen, the middle and final act would’ve been weak. But as I said before, nitpicks never hurt movies and this movie is no exception.
The Verdict:
Overall, King Kong is a really enjoyable film that delivers a great message. It has action, drama, some humor, and a unique romance. I think King Kong is a masterpiece film and I’m going to rate the film five out of five stars. This is one of Peter Jackson’s best movies and this movie proved why he is such a great director. I cannot wait to revuew the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings films eventually. If you haven’t seen the 2005 King Kong film, then I highly reccomend you to see it. You won’t be disappointed!
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I hope you guys enjoyed reading my review of King Kong and stay tuned for another film related or film review post! 🙂
The Elite Film Prodigy 