Kong

Overview - Hard to improve on a definitive classic. Jackson’s relies on recreating deleted footage, as well as scenes excised before filming. Also, his Kong is not some mindless brute, but one gets the sense there is a soul in there. An intelligence. Unfortunately, the film is bloated by Jackson’s 3+ hour running time. The man, and his writers, seem incapable of telling a story concisely.

TMBTM cut overlong or useless scenes, tried to minimize casting fiascos, and made this more satisfying.

Video - More hits than miss. I would have liked the bug pit to play longer, except it becomes stupid, so OK. Chopping to one T-Rex is smarter. I never caught any edit miscues, and there is a nice bonus to check afterward.

Audio - Robust 2-channel. Editing was excellent. I kept listening for the Max Steiner clip but missed it.

Narrative - Flaws abide, big time, but the narrative structure holds solid. In the first act, all characters are sketchy, which is fine. Aside from Naomi Watts and the ship crew, the two male leads remain terrible. Black is miscast. He can not act outside of his limited range, and is utterly wrong in his 30s portrayal. Brody sleepwalks throughout, obviously bored, and has negative chemistry with Watts. TMBTM did great reducing their screen time.

Enjoyment - I appreciated this, I did not enjoy it. Kong is too tragic a character for me. At Skull Island, he is a swaggering ruler. In Manhattan, it’s all over for the poor bastard.

This is a terrific job, but enjoyment might depend on your capacity, or lack of, to emphasize with Kong. As with the 1933 original, I will never watch this version again. But I am glad I did.

Peter Jackson's King Kong is a favorite of mine. I actually *gasp* prefer it to the original 1933 film. The biggest criticism of the film is that it is too long. I get that. It is too long. I don't mind the length, however. I like how Jackson turned the story of the Eight Wonder into an epic. That said it can still do with a bit of trimming.

This edit, however, is not just the result of a bit of trimming. There is a lot of cutting here. I knew before I even watched this edit that I wasn't going to like this nearly as much as the theatrical version and, guess what, I didn't. I'm someone who's big on characterization, and I really appreciated the scenes in the original cut focusing on that. Well, those scenes are gone here. It's bare bones character development and, while it works, we miss out on all the subtleties of the different relationships. As such, I didn't completely buy Jack's attachment to Ann, and Ann's attachment to the titular beast.

But the story moves so fast that it doesn't really matter. While I enjoy the theatrical version much better, I'm quite fond of this version too. TMBTM turned the movie into a fun, mysterious, and rip-roaring 108 minute adventure, and that's pretty cool.

Well, this was a great edit. Nicely paced, seamlessly edited... achieved everything it set out to do. Well done.

August 16, 2011

Great edit. It makes this movie watchable for me now, especially as an homage to the original. As others have mentioned, this edit really shows just how superficial and bloated the PJ version is. As much as TMBTM cut, quite frankly, even more could have been cut. I could have done without one of the search party monster scenes entirely.

One thing that would have been nice to have more of is some bonding time on Skull Island with Kong and Naomi Watts. I never fully buy into their strong connection, but as a fun eye candy movie done in the style of old Hollywood I am able to suspend my disbelief. Plus Naomi Watts helps to sell it with her graceful beauty and always amazing acting performance. Because I can only imagine what lengths I might personally go to in order to be with her and keep her safe, I can almost imagine myself as the big blundering ape. This is the level at which Kong works for me. TMBTM mostly captures this feeling. At the end with the line, “No, it was beauty killed the beast,” I am left a satisfied viewer. I turn off the TV contemplatively thinking God, ain’t that the truth.

9/10

September 3, 2010

*This rating was given before reviews were required*