AFTER THREE HOURS, NOT TO BE MOVED BY THE FINALE IS A PITY

h e the mokey

So here it is Peter Jackson’s remake of KING KONG but does it live up to all the hype? James Mottram ventures into the jungle to find out.

onsters belong in B moy'iesf we are told early on in King Kong. Well. now they don‘t. Peter Jackson‘s layiin remake ol‘

.‘ylet‘ian (‘ (‘ooper and Iirnest B Schoedsack‘s WM classic puts the mother ol' all tnonstcrs in his own A- list show. Rather like (‘arl Denham (.lack Black). the ady'enture-seeking lilmmaker who ultitnately captures the eponymous giant ape. Jackson presents his compater-generated Kong as a spectacle l‘or audiences to ogle in disheliel'. And. with Andy Serkis providing the facial expressions and moyements as he did lot (iolltlllt in Jackson’s /.()l'(/ (iI'I/Ir' Rings cycle. the creature is certainly the 'eighth wonder of the world‘. as l)enham calls Kong ttpon his return to .\'cw York.

But whether King Kong. set in the year of the original. is anything more than a \cry handsome B lltoy'ie is debatable. l)enham. an ()rson Welles-like rchel who steals his own incomplete lilm l'rom the studio. hires a boat to head lor the little-known Sktill Island so he can complete his picture by shooting some esotic l‘ootage. ()n the way. he picks up his new star. starying actress Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) and yirtually kidnaps his screenwriter. respected playwright Jack l)riscoll (Adrien Brody). By the time the crew ~ l'rom .latnie Bell’s lookout to Serkis' shile cook ~ realise where they‘re heading it's too late.

While the early Depression-era New York scenes are as expansiyc as Leone’s sumptttotts ()Ilt't’ ('poii a

lime in .‘IIIIl’I'lt'H. us during the arriyal at Skttll Island when the film really takes ol‘l‘. I‘rom the scariest natiyes you‘ll eyer see (all rotten teeth and hloodshot eyes) to giant insects that will turn your stomach. .lackson‘s y'iy‘id imagination comes to life. creating a Visceral experience to match anything seen in 'l‘olkein’s Middle liarth. With .-\nn captured by the natiycs and ol‘l‘ered as a sacrilice to the great Kong. the film shitts tip a gear. as the crew attempt to suryiye the island. .'\ relentless pace. comhined with astonishing \‘istlztls. icayes you breathless. notahly when Kong lights with a trio of prehistoric hcasts to protect his female pri/c.

It‘s only in the final third that the l‘ilm loses its tnotnentttm. Brodyk character ncy er sits easily in the narratiye. while Black whose cold-hearted turn as the morally hankrttpt director is easily the films acting highlight drops to the background. The ending is as it shottld he. on the limpirc State Building. as Kong climbs to the top to do battle with hi-planes. But the relationship between he and a teary .v\nn. which may hayc worked in ION. t'eels mawkish here notath in an indulgent moment when the pair lark around on an iced-oyer pond in (‘entral l’ark. :\l'ter three hours. not to he moycd hy the linale is a pity. But then Jackson has always been better when he was remoyed l‘rom our reality.

General release from Thursday 15 Oct. .00

Hit

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