Peter Jackson's King Kong - Anderton Prime's Review

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I've just got back from watching this and having a quick one at the pub and wow, this film was AMAZING. From the shots to the cgi, the acting, the sounds, everything, it was superb. It takes you through all of your emotions from being on the ede of your seat, the sadness, laughter, the whole lot. I was a bit sceptical about the edge of your seat comments I read, notable in Andertons first post since you go in knowing the story knowing who will win, dut dammit, I was on the edge of my seat. And not just for the T-Rex fight, a rather large porion of the movie. I though Jack Black was awful, no not his acting, his charater, I hated him, he was one of the most unlikable sleeze balls the movie world has seen, Black payed him to a tee. The only bad thing about it was that for the last hour I needed a wee, normally I'd cut my losses and go and just miss a couple of mins but I'll be damned if I was going to miss any of this. If you haven't seen this yet, regardless of your tastes in movies, go and watch it, don't question why, just go
 
Just saw it. It's a masterpiece.

I don't understand the very few negative reviews I've seen. It's hard to understand anybody being less than blown completely away by this movie. Sure, the intro in New York and on the ship takes 44 minutes (I timed it), but it's quite well done, and explains all that follows. Without it, the rest wouldn't make sense.

And starting right there, on minute 45, the movie takes off and soars into the stratosphere. Some have quibbled that the action is over-the-top, but the whole movie is over-the-top! It's about a 25-foot-tall gorilla, for God's sake. Being over-the-top is what it's all about!

Yes, Naomi Watts is great, as are Jack Black and Adrien Brody, but the best actor in the movie is Kong himself. The combination of CG and Andy Serkis' motion-capture work has resulted in something we've never seen before. The big guy is just absolutely, stunningly, perfectly real. He's truly awesome.

This is a must-see. It's a major blast.

(Minor note: The official running time is 3:07, but the version I just saw ran 2:56. Once again, I timed it. I wonder if they did some very-last-second editing?)
 
did you include the entire end credits in that 2:56 that seems very short :(

only 6.2 Million on Thursday in the US :( I really hope people are just waiting for the weekend because of the length. At this rate its going to strugle to pass 200 Million in the US.
 
Just saw it too, and I have to concur, that was awesome. CG work for King Kong and New York is simply mindblowing. I think the only thing left to achieve in CG is virtual actors, good enough that the audience could not tell which is real and which isn't.

One small thing that bugged me about the movie though: don't get me wrong, looking at Naomi Watts in a revealing evening dress is fine with me... just not at the top of the Empire State Building, at dawn, during the winter. :nervous::sick:
 
Carl.
...One small thing that bugged me about the movie though: don't get me wrong, looking at Naomi Watts in a revealing evening dress is fine with me... just not at the top of the Empire State Building, at dawn, during the winter.
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Yeah, she could've at least shivered a little!
 
Caught this movie last night . Really entertaining , i was a little surprised ; it is the way to go though , if you are going to do a remake , you don't shift the paradigm , th pace of the plot ar any of the stabilities underlying a good movie .
It felt like a real good old long movie and even the acting i felt was self-conciously black&white , melodramatic . In short it is a movie of the nineteen thirties given adequate technological brush-strokes and the result is satisfying cinema.
The pluses ; Kong , the Insects .
 
I watched it yesterday and like everyone else I was impressed I had no intension to watch a film about a big ape it sounds silly, but man was I wrong.

It is the best film this year by far I never thought I'd actually feel bad for Kong but I'd be surprised that any one could watch this film and not be touched, kudos to Peter Jackson :)

Everyone should watch this film at the very least it deserves a chance
 
Zardoz
Kong did about $66 million in five days. While that siounds pretty impressive, everybody expected more, and is yet another indication of the trouble the movie industry is in these days. The general feeling is "what does it take to get people into theaters anymore?"

http://www.latimes.com/business/cus...,1528325.story?coll=la-tot-promo&track=widget

A lot of people are getting really worried.
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That was certainly a nice increase for the weekend. Over 20 million on Saturday alone. I think it certainly is below expectations though :( Take into account that a 3+ hour film gets one les showing per screen per day than a 2+ hour film.

So much for it being a 'Titanic' beater. It would have to have next to no drop through next weekend for that and I dont see that happening. Most films drop about 50% per weekend.
 
[Possible Spoilers]

I took the day off work yesterday, which meant I wasn't on GTP either, and saw the 10:00 AM showing with my brother. I gave up on taking my wife after her mother told her it was disgusting and stupid. :mad: She will watch it on DVD, oh yes, she will.

Anyway -- I loved it! Never once did I get the feeling that Kong wasn't real. He was as much of a true character as anyone of the real actors. As he climbed the Empire State Building I begin to get sad and excited. I knew that I was about to witness a masterful scene with Kong battling airplanes, but I also knew how it would end. At the end I felt like screaming at the reporters and paparazzi for defiling Kong's body the way they did while catching the hidden comment Jackson was making towards the paparazzi and the heartless way in which they pursue their targets.

Jack Black was a perfect cast for his role. He played a complete sleeze better than I could have hoped. His Orson Welles hairstyle gave an immediate hint as to how his ego would be before he even opened his mouth. He was great in showing his character's final realization that Kong was not a monster but something that could understand beauty and love.

Overall it was a great movie and possibly the best I have seen all year.

As to why people aren't rushing to see it I have two theories. One is that many people have a misconception of what King Kong is about. They think it is just a monster movie and afterall, "monsters belong in B-movies."

The second is the price issue as mentioned above, but combined with quality. I saw a morning show and paid as much as I used to for an evening showing two years ago. The movie industry has created an ugly cycle. They make less money due to a bad year so they raise prices to make up the difference. This increase causes less people to come to the movies and then they need to raise prices again.

Once Hollywood realizes that mindless junk is fun and all but an equal amount of quality AND original movies is really what we want they will begin to make up their losses. Instead of bemoaning the loss of revenue to the video game industry perhaps they should try showing me why I should turn off the Playstation. King Kong was a great example of that. Had it not been for that I would have spent the day playing video games.

If you raise the prices show me that it is worth it.
 
I'm sorry guys. But this film, as a whole was very weak.

The time it takes to get Kong even as a thought in the movie is longer then it took Eric Bana to become "Hulk". I mean, what do I care about the writer or the second mate character? I want to see Kong tearing up T-Rex's and New York.

I will give it two things though. One, it had a great build of a relationship with Kong and Ann. Two(and most importantly) the action sequences were absolutely incredible. The sheer skill that Kong showed was amzing in and of itself. As a side note, the natives were EXTREMLY creepy. I do not reccomend ANY children going to see this movie. I think it was great that they were so creepy as it made it more realistic and less like looney tunes gone wild.

Anyway, on the whole, I think Peter should've chopped at least 30 minutes of the front of the flick. That will get us to the boatfaster and 10 minutes off the stuff on the boat. That will get us to the island faster and obviously to Kong.

So, what do I think? It could've set the new standard for monster style movies. The problem is that I think Peter forgot it wasn't a three part story and tried to make a mountain out of a mole hill...storyline wise. :sly:
 
I sort of agree the first third was slow in pace but the remaining two thirds I feel more than make up for it, its definately a contender for the film of the year
 
725
I sort of agree the first third was slow in pace but the remaining two thirds I feel more than make up for it, its definately a contender for the film of the year
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Sorry, I don't think there is any reason for a film to drag on with boredom like this film did that has zero effect on the outcome of the flick. Look at LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring. That was slow in the beggining, but it had bearing on the story. In Kong, most of what happens before the boat doesn't even matter by the second hour of the flick.
 
I did feel that it was a little pointless especially the knowledge we learn on the ship crew I still really enjoyed it
 
725
I did feel that it was a little pointless especially the knowledge we learn on the ship crew I still really enjoyed it
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Ok, I can deal with that. I'm glad we can agree on the futility of a lot of the story telling. :)
 
Agreed 👍 at least the film is another plus point for Peter Jackson maybe he can pull off halo!
 
725
Agreed 👍 at least the film is another plus point for Peter Jackson maybe he can pull off halo!
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That would be interesting... :trouble:
 
I actually enjoyed the whole lot, including the first half hour, I thought it introduced the characters well, it showed what kind of a person Jack Black was and also ann and then you got bits of info on the others. I can understand people not liking it, but I enjoyed the film a a whole, I liked the build up tothe build up, but then, I really appreciate a long movie. To me King Kong was proper cinema, not £5.50 for 90 mins and no popcorn.
 
I saw it today, I thought it was awsome. I nearly fell asleep in the first Lord of the Rings movie, just because of the length. I was enthralled throughout this entire movie. By the end of the movie, I was thinking "Over already? I want to see more!" It should have been longer ;)

The fight sequences between Kong and the dinosaurs was simply breathtaking, one of the best fight sequences since Kill Bill.
 
As usual, i beg to differ. Ya know i dont think i ever agree with the masses.

I finally got to see King Kong yesterday, and all i can say is it was quite possibly the most over-hyped piece of cinematic tosh i have ever seen.
Ok thats a lil harsh, but it was by no means as superb & perfect as alot of the reviews/critics made it out to be. Now what was the problem that most people complained about?? it was the hour long intro before we even see Kong. And to be honest those are the best bits of the film.

The action may well be very good, but its let down by (some how) terrible cgi. HOW?!?! this film cost $200mil+ to make & yet all you have to do is watch Jurrasic Park to see how you do proper computer graphics Dinosaurs & they are 13 years old now!! its shocking, especially when they try to integrate real people into the scenes.

Like the stampeed bit with the "long necks" that would have been utterly brilliant (the sound effect certainly were), but every time we saw Jack Black or Adrien Brody run infront/around/in between them, it was so clearly green screened it was laughable & lost all impact. The fight were you just see Kong pounding the crap outa the T-rex's is very good as it's pure cgi, but every now and then you have to see Naomi Watts in Kongs hand and you are reminded that its all computer work & (well i) just go "huff".

It wasnt really a bad film as such, its just that the cgi is really low-par, for this kind of film they have to be 100% state of the art & im sorry, but they wernt.

Plus one other factor i hate in films is LUCK. its ok if maybe once people are saved or spared because we all have the odd bit of luck, but every single character effectively is just saved by something/one & never gets out of anything by themselves.
e.g. - going back to the stampeed, in reality every single one of them would have been well & truelly trampled to ****! lol, ok maybe one "lucky" person would survive, but not near enough everyone (minus 4 non main characters).

The only action sequence that wasnt ruined by this low-par cgi was the bit after they have all fallen into that cavern & the remaining characters try to battle all those little insect creature thingys. That really was excellent, but again just as you think there doomed, Oh look there being saved by someone else, lucky!! I hate it when that happens.

I could go on with problems with this film, but i wont. Its not that bad-a-film, its just a huge let down, mainly due to the horrid cgi & for what is alegedly the most expensive film ever made, this is unforgiving!

6/10 (still better than Episode III, but that isnt hard really).
 
555
As usual, i beg to differ. Ya know i dont think i ever agree with the masses.

I finally got to see King Kong yesterday, and all i can say is it was quite possibly the most over-hyped piece of cinematic tosh i have ever seen.
Ok thats a lil harsh, but it was by no means as superb & perfect as alot of the reviews/critics made it out to be. Now what was the problem that most people complained about?? it was the hour long intro before we even see Kong. And to be honest those are the best bits of the film.

The action may well be very good, but its let down by (some how) terrible cgi. HOW?!?! this film cost $200mil+ to make & yet all you have to do is watch Jurrasic Park to see how you do proper computer graphics Dinosaurs & they are 13 years old now!! its shocking, especially when they try to integrate real people into the scenes.

Like the stampeed bit with the "long necks" that would have been utterly brilliant (the sound effect certainly were), but every time we saw Jack Black or Adrien Brody run infront/around/in between them, it was so clearly green screened it was laughable & lost all impact. The fight were you just see Kong pounding the crap outa the T-rex's is very good as it's pure cgi, but every now and then you have to see Naomi Watts in Kongs hand and you are reminded that its all computer work & (well i) just go "huff".

It wasnt really a bad film as such, its just that the cgi is really low-par, for this kind of film they have to be 100% state of the art & im sorry, but they wernt.

Plus one other factor i hate in films is LUCK. its ok if maybe once people are saved or spared because we all have the odd bit of luck, but every single character effectively is just saved by something/one & never gets out of anything by themselves.
e.g. - going back to the stampeed, in reality every single one of them would have been well & truelly trampled to ****! lol, ok maybe one "lucky" person would survive, but not near enough everyone (minus 4 non main characters).

The only action sequence that wasnt ruined by this low-par cgi was the bit after they have all fallen into that cavern & the remaining characters try to battle all those little insect creature thingys. That really was excellent, but again just as you think there doomed, Oh look there being saved by someone else, lucky!! I hate it when that happens.

I could go on with problems with this film, but i wont. Its not that bad-a-film, its just a huge let down, mainly due to the horrid cgi & for what is alegedly the most expensive film ever made, this is unforgiving!

6/10 (still better than Episode III, but that isnt hard really).
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If the characters didn't have luck, then the movie would be cut terribly short! Movies are supposed to be like that, be an escape from reality. If that was somehow real life, yeah they would be trampled to death, but whats the fun in that?
 
I dont mind them having a little bit of luck, everyone is lucky now and then, but theres sustaining beleif and theres total un-realism. I can enjoy a movie for what it is, i like most of the worst/daftest movies ever made. Im sorry but its just daft that not the majority if not all of them didnt die in that stampeed.

It wasnt just the stampeed though. In that scene in the cavern/pit when they are fighting off all the smaller bugs they end up being saved by the others.
And every time someone fell down a big hole/pit there was always conveniantly placed bits of branch to break there fall, or in Naomi's case saved by Kong.

Yes everyone is lucky from time to time, but the majority of this was silly. I'm not saying thats a bad thing, i just dont like films that do that. It's much more pleasing to watch people get out of things themselves. Not be saved by something or just be pure un-realistic luck they survive.

And to be fair, if they were all trampled it wouldnt have been cut short, the film still would have at least lasted 1hour 30, (normal length film time).
 
555, really? You didn't like it? I'm dumbfounded. This is why movies were made in the first place. To wow, to entertain, to dazzle. The CGI for the dinosaurs may not have been completely real-looking, but the actors were supposed to be in a lot closer proximity to the CG dinosaurs in King Kong. Running and weaving through the legs of stampeding 20-foot high dinosaurs is no easy shot to get completely realistic. You can bet Jackson didn't skimp on the effects, so I say that's the limit of the technology today.
 
I saw it this weekend and I was blown away. The dinosaur scene where they are falling down the canyon thru all the vines was simply amazing. Also dont forget the scene where the dinosaurs are all running thru the narrow canyons. These 2 scenes were by far the most stunning I have seen when it comes to special effects. Definetly the best in any movie so far. Yes even better than the Lord of the rings.
Once you get past the first half hour of plot set up it gets a lot better. I found the first half hour quite boring. As soon as they enter the island the suspense doesn't stop until the end. 👍 👍 I might have to say it was one of the best movies that came out for 2005.
 

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