Official Movie Review: SPOILERS ON KONG AND NARNIA
In less than three days I watched both the Chronicals of Narnia and King Kong, and here is my profesional opinion of these movies.
DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED THE FILM KING KONG
I just came back from watching King Kong, so I'll start with that.
What can I say about this movie? It is directed by Peter Jackson and he has a crew of tested profesionals, most of which are Lord of the Rings Veterans. Jackson has been wanting to make this movie since he was a kid...so obviously, I figured he'd give it his best shot.
Regardless of his efforts, I somehow feel cheated. As I watched the movie, I realised that PJ was using way too much special effects! The search party is chased and in some cases trampled by a herd of dinosaurs, eaten by huge bugs, and even thrown about and smashed by Kong himself. It's not that the action wasn't needed, it made for a great movie, but this is King Kong. I didn't think it necissary for Kong to break into the natives city, throw about twenty men in the air, against the walls, etc. Then smash two of them against the cavewall, THEN bite a mans head off and throw his body high in the air, AND FINALY throw a rowboat full of men against the wall. Peter Jackson relied FAR too much on Special effects. Another thing that grinds my gears is the character of Bruce Baxtor, the holleywood actor. Baxtor shows himself to be a coward, then comes back as something as a hero by saving the crew from the bugs.....then turns back into a coward right before Kong escapes....I couldn't immagine what to think of this character. My last negative point, is the amount of sympathy we are supposed to have for Kong. We are supposed to be sad when Kong gets shot up and falls from the tower....but we aren't supposed to feel a thing, except for joy, when he finaly swats the attacking airplanes out of the sky. He takes down 6 airmen and we are supposed to be happy because Kong fell in love.....I'm sure at least one of the 6 airmen were in love at one time....but no one cares about them.
Now, with that done, I do however feel that it was a great movie. PJ nailed the emotional Kong and Ann scenes nearly perfectly. He also had some good scenes with Ann and Jack Driscoll. While the Action was way overdone, it did keep you awake and on the edge of your seat. The entire creapy Island thing was well done, as well as the dinosaurs who looked almost lifelike.
Character Analysis:
Ann Durrow: She was played well by Naomi Watts. She has a knack for screaming, yet looking pretty while doing it, as well as juggeling and preforming vaudville.
Carl Denham: Jack Black did this part wonderfully. he's your typical sleezey Moviemaker who also has a funny side. It's hard not to be on Denhams side during this movie.
Jack Driscoll: Played by Adrien Brody. He is suprisingly good as the scriptwriter. He is both week and nerdlike and a good strong manly hero at the same time.
Captain Englehorn: This guy was my favorite, he is played by Thomas Kretschmann (who you might remember as the Nazi U-Boat commander from U-571). Englehorn is the perfect Sea-Captain/adventurer. I couldn't get enough of this guy, he's so damn cool with his captains hat and luger.
Preston: played by Colin Hanks, he represented morality, he often clashed with Denham but being a good worker succombed to his boss.
Lumpy the Cook: played by Andy Serkis. Lumpy was the comic releif, shooting at mosquitos with his Thompson machine gun. It was actualy both sad and Gross when he was eaten by those big weird worm things.
Choy: Choy was basicaly the stereotypical asian guy, not much to say, other than watching him fall was almost enjoyable.
Herb: The camera man, he was the old guy of the film who regretfully died early. He somehow managed to escape trampeling but was eaten by the raptors.
Bruce Baxter: He was actualy sort of funny to watch on screen. He represented the leading man actor of all the 1930's movies. He was a coward at heart, even if he was a hero on the "silver screen"
Hayes: AKA the cool black first mate. This guy was actualy enjoyable to watch. He was surprisingly poetic and made some interesting comments. It was not enjoyable when he died.
Jimmy: I didn't realy understand this character, he was found on the ship five years before, just like a wild animal.....and in that five years he becomes a functioning person??? I don't buy it.
MY RATING: 8/10 (It was a good movie, but not as much as I'd hoped)
Do not read unless you have watched the Chronicals of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
I had been looking forward to this movie for some time. I several of CS Lewis books in advance because I didn't want to be a fanboy who just watches a movie and claims to know about the book.
While it was mainly a great movie, there were some added scenes that did not take place in the book, which for the most part didn't realy bother me. My two favorite scenes in the film were.....
1. Mr Tumnus and Lucy meeting each other. This is probably one of the greatest scenes in scenamatic history.... It realy captures the innocence of both Lucy as a child and Tumnus as a Faun.
2.The battle. This battle, while extremley based in fantasy, is very intertaining. Where else can you see Giants, centaurs, dwarves, eagles, gryphons, hags, mynatours, and all sorts of other creatures duke it out?
My rating 7/10 (not bad at all, but not great)
I predict these two will be in the running for "Best Film" and "Best Director" (these will probably be awarded to Jackson and Kong. Narnia will most likely win "Best Score"
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It started slowly but really delivered during the finale, to me.
Originally Posted by BKB
. He can't even raise his sword...
