King Kong

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King Kong
It was beauty that killed the beast
2005-12-20
Article Written by: Sami Jo

As evidenced by the Golden Globe nomination, the producers of King Kong couldn't have picked a better director. As a fan of the King Kong story, Peter Jackson actually owns many props that were used in the original 1933 film, and he even used some of them in this current version of the movie. After completing The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Jackson earned a reputation for bringing his unique vision to the screen, and he manages to do so again in King Kong .

Set in 1933 (the year the original debuted on screen), the film tells the story of an almost washed-up director named Carl Denham who wants to film a movie about the legends at Skull Island . After finding his lead actress, Ann Darrow, starving on the streets of New York , he takes his oblivious cast and crew on a voyage to the mysterious place to film the movie. While on the ship Darrow and the screenwriter, Jack Driscoll, begin to fall in love. Once on the island, Darrow is kidnapped by the natives and offered as food for Kong. To save her life, she begins to perform vaudeville stunts to entertain the giant gorilla. When she escapes from him, though, she inadvertently puts herself in more danger. As the remaining cast and crew search for her, Kong tries to save her life from the rest of the dangers on the island, including many tyrannosauruses.

Though visually stimulating, the length of the film could have been greatly reduced. It seemed to drag on simply to increase the number of digital effects used, but the effects kept the story stagnant instead of moving it forward. However, in Jackson 's defense, much of the film looked like King Kong vs. Jurassic Park , and thanks to vast advances in technology, Jurassic Park got its butt kicked! The film really was awesome; it was just too long.

While Andy Serkis ( The Lord of the Rings ) is deservingly reaping much of the attention for playing Kong, Naomi Watts ( The Ring ) shouldn't be overlooked. When you consider that most of her scenes included Kong, who was created digitally, you realize that she spent most of the film acting in front of a green screen by herself. She gave an incredible performance as Ann Darrow. The film also includes Academy Award winner Adrien Brody ( The Piantist ) as Jack Driscoll. Brody was the first and only choice to play his character, and he did his own stunt driving in the film. Comedic actor Jack Black ( The School of Rock ) does a decent job playing a more dramatic role; his over-the-top facial expressions were just right for his portrayal of Carl Denham. Tom Hanks' son Colin also joins the cast to play the nerdy director's assistant, Preston . Colin Hanks was first credited in his fathers' directorial debut That Thing You Do!

At a cost of $207 million King Kong is reportedly the most expensive film to ever be made, only slightly above the $200 million cost of Titanic and Spider-Man 2 . Jackson alone was paid $200 million, which is the most any director has ever received in advance. When the film started going over-budget, Jackson invested some of his own money ($31 million) to complete the film with the quality he desired. While the film topped the weekend box office with revenue of slightly over $50 million, opening day only generated a dismal $9.7 million, far less than many other films that have opened on Wednesdays. Executives aren't worried yet, though. Titanic barely made a splash opening weekend, and it went on to become the most profitable movie ever.

In addition to the Golden Globe nomination for Best Director, King Kong has also received a nomination for Best Original Score by James Newton Howard, who has been nominated for five Academy Awards for his work on other films.

Final Thought: Due to the amazing graphics and sound elements, this is defiantly a film to see in theaters! Don't wait for DVD if you have any desire to see it!

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King Kong