Why Kong is King

Peter Jackson's three-hour long adaptation of King Kong was nothing short of epic. The gargantuan gorilla was given life and realistically-human personality capable of feeling love, fear, hatred and appreciation for beauty. The film, far from the reasonable fear of critics and fans, did not sacrifice artistic content of the story.

Jackson did not just create a monster who fell in love with a beautiful woman. What he did was cull from his imagination how a creature who knew violence as a way of life could be tamed into a gentle beast capable of using violence as the only means to save his loved one. In effect, Jackson did nothing more than project what human beings are capable of doing when their loved ones are threatened by harm.

Though the movie took exactly three hours to finish, there was not a single boring moment in the film. Every scene built up into the climax and sometimes even outdid previous scenes in eliciting horror, suspense and exhiliration among the audience. Noteworthy in the movie are the spectacular production design, the cutting edge effects that make Spielberg's Jurassic Park a movie for three year olds, the breath-taking cinematography and wonderful sound track and editing. And of course the battle between Kong and the hungry T-Rexes.

I would also like to mention the fine acting of Naomi Watts as Ann Darroway. I did not find Jack Black's portrayal of the mad movie director Carl Denham convincing though. Probably because I keep seeing him as the looney substitute teacher in School of Rock. I only had one wish, that Jackson could have picked a more attractive actor to play Jack Driscoll than the fresh from the grave Adrien Brody. But hey, if Ann could fall in love with a gorilla, why not with Adrien?