King Kong (1933) is the world famous
introduction of the large ape and beauty and the beast narrative that has
become a perpetual classic. The film has been remade multiple times and Kong
himself has appeared in many other films. This groundbreaking work which was
revolutionary for the stop motion creature effects was directed by Merian C.
Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack. Everyone knows the story by now, but in case
you don’t it is about a filmmaker and his team who travel to an exotic location
to shoot a movie where they encounter a giant ape named Kong and are attacked
by him and dinosaurs on this exotic island. They end up capturing Kong and
returning him to New York where he causes havoc. The film stars Fay Wray,
Robert Armstrong, and Bruce Cabot.
As I
said above, this film is a classic without question. What a film like this
meant for the future of cinema is something that cannot be dismissed. Further
the quality of this film for being made some 84 years ago is undoubtedly
impressive to say the least. With that massive disclaimer out of the way, I
have to be honest in a review and I did not like this movie. I think the film
sets up a good story and effectively reasons its way through from introduction
to conclusion. I also thought it was paced impeccably well. The performances in
this film largely didn’t work for me and the way the film was written (at least
by way of dialogue) felt rather disjointed. Further, and much more importantly,
the age of this film is felt and the lack of realism with certain elements
robbed them of all their dramatic or horrific value.
Beginning,
as always, with positives, I thought that the film does a great job setting up
its premise and then moving the audience along through the film. Telling a
story that made sense was essential, particularly at the time, and I think the
way the filmmakers pulled at different things to accomplish that was extremely
effective. It starts off pretty innocuous, and almost unlike any monster movie
that would follow. It all makes sense and feels believable when they eventually
do encounter monsters on the island, howver. The ability to make me believe the
story was impressive and something the film deserves a lot of credit for.
I
also thought this had impeccable pacing. The way it is edited and stitched
together kept me on my toes throughout the entire run time and I was always
waiting for what would happen next. Honestly, it structurally felt like a
modern blockbuster as we built up to significant and interesting action set
pieces and edited the film together in such a way as to have everything serve
those eventual moments of payoff.
Despite
the quality of storytelling and the skill in pacing, the film doesn’t work. The
performances and dialogue feel extremely forced and disjointed and, further,
the creature effects rob the film of its dramatic tension. To be fair, I’m sure
these performers are attempting to do the best under the circumstances but I
didn’t believe any of them as characters. They overplay everything (which was
pretty typical in films at that time) much to the disadvantage of the subtlety
that should have been applied to the story as a whole. Further, the dialogue is
written in a way that makes the performances feel even more disjointed. There
is a lot in this film that just doesn’t seem natural. That sense really hurt my
ability to invest in the story which is problematic later on in the film.
Finally,
and maybe most significantly, the way this film looks today really took all of
the dramatic and horrific tension out of the story. There are scenes where you’re
meant to be frightened (because the totally not-subtle score says so) but you
just aren’t because the stop-motion dinosaur or monkey eating or holding a rag
doll just doesn’t look right. In fairness, this was the best that could be
done, but that does not mean that it stands the test of time. I found myself laughing
and reacting the wrong way at all the wrong times. Things in this movie should
impact the viewer and they didn’t here. It makes me extremely sad to say that
but it’s a real issue with films of this age.
Overall,
King Kong is forever going to be a
classic for introducing this story and for revolutionizing filmmaking at the
time. In that sense, I am impressed beyond belief. That said, this didn’t work
as a film for me today and it won’t be how I remember or revisit this classic
character.
Ryan’s
Score: 4/10
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