King Kong

I did not walk into the theatre with very high expectation when I went to see King Kong. Although I liked the Lord of the Ring series, the story of King Kong is so familiar and the previous movies are so undistinguished artistically that I thought it would offer little surprise. While there was nothing new in the story, the movie did come up with a few surprises. Technically, once the first half hour passed, I could not help but be impressed by the rhythm Jackson had in filming and editing. It was not a backbreaking rush of adrenaline, but varied, lyrically and narrative, like a fine sonata. This carried though the three hours and made the double length very easy and enjoyable to navigate. It was also clear how much loving care he had put into this movie. Every moment was carefully constructed and not a single space in every second not filled with interesting elements. Take the long dinosaur stampede for example. It was mad and exciting enough just to see all these giant monsters stomping and running on our heroes. Jackson, however, made a little story within the stampede by interacting the human and the two kinds of dinosaurs. It gave imagination and meaning to this otherwise formulaic piece. My expectation was right, the story is old and nothing was added to it; but my expectation was also wrong, because of Jackson’s care it was by no mean undistinguished artistically. It may not have told me anything new or useful but the three hours were highly enjoyable; and that makes it an wonderful movie.