King Kong

I am a Peter Jackson Fanboy. This should be known before we proceed.

I had seen the original King Kong many years ago, and couldn’t get around the crazy effects. I suppose the man in the ape suit was just so enthralling that I didn’t have time to pay attention to what the story was about. The effects in this version are much more believable, what with Weta’s mad skillz, and allow you to forget that there aren’t really 25 foot gorillas, tyrannosaurus rexes, and bloodthirsty native peoples armed with spears trying to kill invaders. Well, that last one might exist somewhere, but I’m fairly certain these were manufactured natives.

The story was the classic beauty and the beast story. Jackson spent a lot of time on this, and did a great job. My only criticism is that he spent a lot of time on several other things, some not necessary, which made the movie drag. All of the action, even just Kong swinging around, was awesome, it was just the side stories that bogged down the movie. 3 hours wasn’t necessary.

Overall, I had a good time. I’ll probably end up buying it. It’s no LotR, but then what can be? When you hit a Grand Slam like that, your next at bat, no matter how good, won’t be as good.

Peter Jackson Fanboys(girls): Keep an eye out for a certain cage on the boat. They couldn’t possibly have a “Sumatran Rat Monkey” on board, could they? :)