The Eighth Wonder of the World: KING KONG

There was a time when adventure awaited in mysterious places. An age when lost valleys of mists hid creatures undreamed of, forgotten by time. When intrepid souls, lured by the siren's call of daring exploit, guided by whispered stories and faded maps, travelled to places thought to exist only in myth. When creatures brought to life by the magic of wizards like Willis O'Brien, Ray Harryhausen, and Pete Peterson, lurched out of the jungle or from behind the rocks, to awe and amaze. Peter Jackson's remake of King Kong returns to that time and finds all that we remember and so much more.


The story is an expanded echo of the 1933 classic, embellished as it would be by several generations of repeated Homeric readings. In a faded inkline sketch, the story is of maverick filmmaker and adventurer Carl Denham (Jack Black, not miscast as many have asserted) who discovers vaudeville entertainer Ann Darrow (adorable Naomi Watts) on the streets of 1930s Depression-era New York City and persuades her to star in his latest movie to be filmed in Singapore. Denham takes her on board the rustbucket steamer Venture, essentially hijacking screenwriter Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody) for the voyage, and heads out of port just ahead of the police, who were called by Denham's irate studio financiers. Their real destination is Skull Island, a sinking volcanic island whose lush, mysterious jungles hide dinosaurs, giant bugs, and Kong, the last of a breed of gigantic ape, worshipped and feared by the local natives. Ann is kidnapped by the primal, psychopathic natives, and offered in sacrifice to Kong. Ann is taken by the giant ape, and the crew of the Venture set off into the jungle to rescue her, finding themselves pitted against monsters forgotten by time, unpleasant death awaiting them behind every giant tree and dank crevice.

It's obvious. Peter Jackson loves the original King Kong. That love is evident in every frame of the film. Though the 1933 Kong will never be replaced in cinematic memory, Jackson's remake is remarkably assured and improves upon the story and characters from the admittedly wooden plotting and dialogue of the original. The characters are introduced slowly, are given depth, and have room to move in the story. And so, when we arrive at Skull Island after almost one hour of the film, we know and care about the major and minor players in the film. That Jackson and his screenwriters Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boyens have the understanding and confidence to do this is remarkable in this era of jump-cut, instant gratification blockbuster films.

But we're all here for the monsters, right? The 1933 Kong was a groundbreaking effects film, with the great Willis O'Brien using every trick in the book and inventing several new ones, and the 2005 King Kong features similarly jaw-dropping visual effects. The dinosaurs and giant insects are convincing and scary, with the lost spider pit sequence from the 1933 film brought to life here, complete in skin-crawling detail. The common thread with the animation of Kong in both versions is the attempt to instill character into the giant ape and Jackson's visual effects team at Weta succeed magnificently. Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in The Lord of the Rings, performs as Kong, his performance motion-captured and rendered in the final digital animation.

Having an actor behind Kong makes all the difference; the result is a brilliant f/x realization, with Kong generating sympathy and fear, and coaxing tears from the audience by the fateful end on the Empire State Building. Kong is a truly memorable creation, not merely a monster, and Jackson pays tribute to the pioneering O'Brien and pushes the visual effects envelope once more.

The story is involving and well-paced, the acting uniformly excellent, the action breathtaking, the heartstrings tugged but never played, and the visual effects and recreations of 1933 New York superb. Against many odds, Peter Jackson has delivered another film for the ages. Step on board and enjoy the voyage.