King Kong

Director: Peter Jackson

Cast: Naomi Watts, Adrien Brody, Jack Black, Thomas Kretschmann

7.5/10

What would director Peter Jackson have to say if one asked him his reasons for reworking the King Kong story? We guess it’ll be: “Because it’s there,” ? something George Mallory famously said when asked why he wanted to climb Everest. It’s a fair enough answer, but there’s more to Jackson’s three-hour extravaganza than an over-the-top story retold with more gore, more visual effects and more shock and awe.

The story follows the classic 1933 version closely ? it is an early-20th century tale we see here ? but weaves in elements of epic and tragic grandeur as it follows Kong’s trail from the jungles of Skull Island to the arclights of Broadway. In spite of the mayhem and the clamour, the tale rings with sounds of impending doom ? Naomi Watts faltering as she steps on to the ship that will take her into unknown lands, the horn sounding as the ship is drawn into the fog, the beating of the tribal drums ? which is a legacy Jackson carries over from The Lord of the Rings series. By the time of the climax atop Empire State Building, the Beauty and the Beast story becomes, as Carl Denham, the overzealous film producer (played by Jack Black) says, a tale where “beauty killed the beast”.

Naomi Watts is outstanding as Ann Darrow, her frailty heightened by the bonds Kong shares with her ? and the story does well to keep sexual attraction out of this. If there’s something that sticks out like a sore thumb as big as Kong’s, it’s the Jurassic Park-like sequences on the island, in which Kong, and the explorers, fight creatures of all shapes and sizes. But for that half-hour, King Kong would’ve been a true classic. We don’t know if Mallory reached the summit of Everest, but Jackson is certainly getting there.

Satadru Ojha