TALKBACK: King Kong (2005)

[Xenorama]

[jellydonut25]

[king_ghidorah]

[jellydonut25]

[mr.negativity]

[jellydonut25]

One of these days, someone, somewhere, will edit the movie down to like 1 hr 55 mins, and I will like that version. Cut out all the crap with Little Jimmy.

[Pkmatrix]

[tbeasley]

I enjoy Jackson's film, although now I think I'd prefer the theatrical cut as opposed to the extended version. Even then I'd have to admit the movie could be further simplified, especially in the Skull Island segments. Do there have to be velociraptors in the brontosaur stampede? Could Kong have just fought two tyrannosaurs? It could go on to the human characters but I actually like how they are developed and altered from the original.

I say all this based on the last time I saw it, sometime before the first Hobbit film (which I also enjoyed). I was expecting to like it less after reading what a lot of people had to say about it, but I still found myself liking it. Not as a guilty pleasure either because I do find it genuinely well made and ultimately very moving.

It was also one of the first movies I saw (along with Hellboy) that really got me into filmmaking. I remember watching the extensive making of documentaries for both films and wanting to make my own monster movies. I still do!

[klen7]

My big issue is that the first hour+ could probably be cut down to 30 minutes, but I do enjoy it from the time they get to Skull Island onwards with a bit of editing in New York as well. Cutting out all that from the beginning could have also kept the budget in reason.

[Gwangi]

[Pkmatrix]

[Gwangi]

But even Jack and Ann seemed overplayed as well. Developed characters is one thing. Stuffing them up is another. And one must remember that the plot / narrative does not always call for a so called “developed character” in order for the picture to succeed. The original worked on that level. Ditto with Ray Harryhausen’s movies. Heck, if Jackson ever got his hands on “7th Voyage” he would most likely add some sort of back story like having Sinbad and Princess Parisa meeting for the first time and together helping avoid a war between their two city states. Probably do the same for Sokurah the Magician and the Genie which would all last about an hour and a half before we finally reach the Island of Colossa!

[tbeasley]

[Pkmatrix]

[tbeasley]

Jackson's only film that felt truly, unnecessarily bloated to me was The Lovely Bones. Something like that should have felt 'smaller' in an almost Silence of the Lambs sort of way. Jackson's own Heavenly Creatures maintained that feel very well even with its crazier imagery.

[jellydonut25]

Jackson's only film that felt truly, unnecessarily bloated to me was all of them post-2003

[klen7]

You meant 2003 inclusive, right?

[jellydonut25]

[lhb412]

[Outkaster]

As a long time KK fan and someone knows these movies well there are a lot worst monster movies then this one.

[lhb412]

Man, how weird is that jerky, video-effect looking' slo mo used for dramatic effect a few times in this film?

Also: man, in their effort to make this islanders less racist they overcorrected into super racism. It's like swerving to not hit a cat and running into a moose.

[Gwangi]

Here's the thing. If Brie Larson goes ice skating with this Kong, I am not walking, BUT running out of that theater!

I don't mind any character feeling for Kong, I just down want it laid too thick that it eventually defeats the purpose.

[lhb412]

^Yeah, they lay everything on a bit too thick. I've gotten a used to it over multiple viewings, though.

Also; I like Jack Black. He is miscast, but he doesn't botch the movie or anything with his performance, but while watching the movie I imagined what if, say Ron Perlman or J.K. Simmons was Denham?

[Outkaster]

He's not NY enough, no one from the Tri-State really would have acted like that back then but like I already said, there are worst movies.

[lhb412]

^I don't see why the character has to be from NY.

Also: Ron Perlman was born and raised in New York!