KING KONG REVIEW: I saw the Kong... and it's HUGE!!

So I tell my girlfriend that I have plans to see "King Kong" last night. A buddy has screening tickets. Just in time for my birthday.


"That's sounds like a FANTASTIC activity that you should do without me!"

So without her I went.

I have seen IT. I have seen "the Kong" and It's huge. I will take her to biggest theater in LA to see it again. She will love it.

Now I am not going to get into spoilers and all that crap. If you want to know nothing, check in later, I'll write something else. Probably about my upcoming Vegas trip..

FULL DISCLOSURE: I hated the the first two "Lord of the Rings" movies (Frodo and Sam --- they're gay, right?) Loved the third one.

Peter Jackson is the new "King of the Bump." "The Bump" is a film term for a guy who can makes action scenes pile up. An intital action sequence, while exciting, is just a small part of bigger picture that gets revealed. Spielberg was great at this before he decided to get all generic.

We all know the story of King Kong. But here is where this flick really breaks some ground-- in character development.

Jack Black actually becomes "an actor" with his turn of Carl Delhman. Sure, the first half of the flick plays as an action comedy. He is a young, idealistic filmmaker who becomes obsessed with getting the big shot. I think all of us can relate to "coming that close" and just not quite getting there. So let's cut some corners. The character could have been a very two dimensional one, but here it's fleshed out. You know why that guy became the way he did. For more on that subject see George Stephanapolus's Auto-Bio "All Too Human."

The humor and the action are perfectly blended. It's not like that whole studio action humor shit.

In "Batman Begins" for no reason during a Batmobile sequence a large black man says "Nice Ride" We're fighting for Gotham City here... this is no time for joking around.

Studio execs should not write jokes. They aren't funny people. Just look at the IMDB for Basil Iwanyk's credits. This guy is THE King of fucking up movies with cute jokes. Yet he continues to fail forward.

Also Jack Black's timing is a thing of beauty... he has several lines through out the film that only "the great's" could get away with. He delivers some "In" jokes and has a running gag that would be disasterous to someone who didn't "own it."

Kong himself is worthy of an Academy Award. You truly understand the mind of the Ape. You understand why he goes all... well... Ape Shit. He has a personality. He has his motivation. You get it.

There is a lot in this flick a standard director would not be able to get away with. Jackson makes it authentic. Even the eventual death of King Kong (no that wasn't a spoiler... see the original.. or the remake... or think about it for a second.. ) is heartbreaking and there is "a touch" that all men recognize as the cinematic "lowest of the low." When Kong fights off the planes on the Empire State building.. you really want him to win. You want him to smash. You want Kong to get the girl.

Also, for those who have seen the trailer for the movie (okay I am spoiling the trailer). There is a scene where Kong takes on some kind of dinosaur. The trailer is a split second of the greatest "KONG VS.. WHOEVER" fight I had ever seen (and I have seen the all). The bigger sequence is mind boggling.

I guess the thing I dug about this flick the most, was just when I thought I knew what the formula called for next-- It surprised me. It was a formula flick that fucked with the formula.

I highly doubt you will see that quote in your paper.

So here's another one "There's a new formula in town"

Okay that sucked too.

"THAT'S A WHOLE LOTTA MOVIE"
"KONGEREFIC"

Okay fuck it.

Worth $10 for the tickets plus $10 for popcorn and a coke plus $2 for parking?

You bet your Ape shit ass it is. Bring a date.

It's "Titanic" for boys. The only flaw I saw was even Jackson fault. Some of the CGI technology isn't quite there yet. Often when Actors interact with the CGI, there is a"phony" quality to it, but King Kong is still the best flick I have seen this year.


-CP

I was really happy about two things that happened during the movie.

The woman sitting next to me freaked during the bugs scene.

Also, I was really happy that I ran into a friend who had fallen out of touch with at the screening. Hadn't seen her in years. Hi Lisa!

[KING KONG]