King Kong

-Directed by:Peter Jackson

Starring:
-Adrien Brody, Jack Black, Naomi Watts, Andy Serkis

Let's just say it so it's said. Peter Jackson may be the grand poobah of the action movie. Speaking as one of the faithful Lord of the Rings fans, I was positively giddy when I found out what his next project was going to be after the marathon filming of the Tolkien trilogy of movies. As a devoted movie nerd, I was also curious what the special effects wizards under Jackson's employ would come up with. When I sat myself down in the movie theater, I was not disappointed.

What I will say though is that this movie is better seen on DVD for one simple reason. This is a LONG movie. Clocking it at a whopping 187 minutes, you will appreciate your DVD player simply for the pause button alone. Thanks to the detail of Jackson's vision, you won't want to miss any of the edge of your seat action in this film. As he did in the Rings movies, Jackson shows a keen eye for detail but there is one bit of trivia you might find interesting. This is a movie he wanted to do since he was about eight years old. Growing up, he'd seen the original movie and kept imagining how he'd do it better. Needless to say the time spent in the imagination vault of Jackson has served this movie very, very well. It's well crafted to the point where you keep wondering when one of the creepy crawly things you see is going to crawl right over you.

Since I brought up the creepy crawly critters, I should also say this. The action in this movie is seriously intense. There are guns, spears, zombies, enough dinosaurs to make you think you're watching Jurassic Park and more than a few characters die. However, there's also a taste to it. Like the Rings movies, Jackson knows how to keep the action up and gross level down. Aside from one mention of suicide, he succeeds admirably. As for language, it's fairly brief which is refreshing. Again though, Jackson understands his audience wants to be entertained on the purest level possible. Limit the gore and the swearing, and you get an old fashioned ride at the movies. Just like the original film was back in 1933.


-Jenn Untch
Liberty, Missouri
indigojenn at earthlink dot net
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