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Re: overall opinion?

Posted by halfnote (A) on December 18, 2005 at 20:16:26

In Reply to: Good lists, now your overall opinion? nt posted by tinear on December 18, 2005 at 05:18:27:

I was one of those in this forum who awaited the arrival of the new Kong with great expectation, and also a sense of dread. Was this going to be another pointless remake, like Godzilla and Psycho and, to a large extent, War of the Worlds? Or was this going to be, at last, a remake that was worth it. Overall, I'd have to say, even though I can certainly point to some shortcomings and excesses, that this film was perhaps the best remake of them all.

It was as faithful to the original concept as it could be, while stretching and updating it, not just with modern technology and special effects, but with a more modern, sophisticated sensibility and greater artistic ambition. Many of the original's most famous scenes are eclipsed in the Jackson's version, and some of the new scenes are among the film's highpoints, emphasizing themes that one could only infer from the original. It is clear to anyone who sees this film that Jackson, like the rest of us, love the original King Kong, and (it's apparent in almost every frame) considered it an honor to be working this project.

Perhaps no remake of Kong can capture the charm of the original, with its unselfconscious, straight-forward story telling, and its unpretentious. The original Kong's wonderful mythic quality almost seem incidental, even accidental -- like a sixth grade art student producing a Pollack or Picasso.

I wonder if the makers of the original thought of their Kong as a martyr, a symbol of man's lost natural innocence, crucified by the industrialization and commercial ambition of America in the 1930's. I wonder if they could have had such a grand vision in mind when they made the Empire State Building and the machine-gun rigged bi-planes Kong's supporting characters. Yet, it is clear that Jackson had these themes on HIS mind, along with the rest of us Kong admirers, when he sat down to work out his treatment. It is clear that HE was struck by the original's mythic power. And it is in this personal response to the original Kong film that Jackson surpasses the original film.

Despite is bare bones simplicity and mythic power, the original is filled with campy dialogue and stereotypical characters that belie its seriousness. Some might say that these "corny" simple characters are emblematic of the age the film concerns itself with, and that these characters personify the the flaws in the brave new world that ultimately crushes Kong. To make these assertions on behalf of the first film seems like a bit of a stretch. With Jackson's version, these connectons are more boldly drawn and more clearly intentional.

The irony in the new Kong is that, in a film so determinately serious and expansive, the director becomes so completely consumed in mere spectacle and keneticism at times. These scenes (the bugs, the tyrannosaurs, the apatosaurous stampede sprinkled with raptors) seem to be completely at odds with Jackson's apparent lofty aims in the film overall. They are the reason the film bloats out to over three hours. It is as if Jackson, in some fit of compulsion, siezed by some mad maniacal power-trip when placed at the "special effects control panel," managed to work in every thrill gimmick he could come up with. It was as if he was hell-bent on out Spielberging Spielberg, and out Lucasing Lucas, forgetting all the subtlety, restraint, and taste that characterize the rest of the film. Or is it another way of expressing the great excesses of the American Industrial Present and Past, symbolized by that greatest of special effects, the Empire State Building and Manhattan, that have always been central to the magic of the Kong tale?

Perhaps another visionary director will clarify some of these points in some future remake. Right now, I'd say the film would be much improved if some of the scenes were simplified (why 30 apatosauruses, for example?), and others cut out all together.

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