King Kong may be one of the most famous monsters to have ever stomped across the cinematic screen, but until recently most productions featuring this colossus as a main character looked not only laughably artificial but also second-rate with all those puppets and clumsy animation. Despite that the 2005 version of King Kong uses a plethora of computer animation to compensate for all that unintentional comedy, the movie itself is actually visually captivating for the very reason that it has an unshakable sense of reality and fantasy. The island of King Kong, for example, is wonderfully green and primeval, an imaginative environment that is simultaneously inviting and terrifying in its seclusion and silence.
The cast is also more attractive, with Naomi Watts as a strong and capable Beauty that eventually kills the Beast. On the other hand, Adrien Brody was more than a little disappointing as Watts’ love interest. However, it seems that the entire cast managed to pull together their talent and look genuinely breathless to see computerized dinosaurs and a giant ape running amok in a mysterious rainforest. Even though ironically based on charted territory, King Kong does have very gloomy overtones and some gross violence, but its battle scenes are exciting and reminiscent of Jurassic Park minus the theme park. Overall, the film is enthralling and awesome with its sense of primitive majesty, a combination of action and romance that never stops pushing any suspense and terror to the next level.
King Kong is available on DVD and Blu-ray Disc wherever movies are sold in Fresno and online; it also can be rented for free from local libraries.
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