Oxford life. Thirtysomething challenges. Music leanings. Anything really.

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Long Kong

I've woken up a little weary this morning, due to Peter Jackson inflicting three hours' worth of cinema upon me last night. King Kong is long, unforgivably long.

Many big movies get the lets-sap-the-last-little-drop-of-money-from-this treatment known as the "Director's Cut", released on DVD years after the original movie.

I look forward to the Viewer's Cut of King Kong. This release will be the fantastic blockbuster that is locked inside this sprawling mess. The technical acheivement of Kong will be plain to see. The set peice fights will be incredible. The Empire State climax will only take fifteen minutes instead of thirty. AND IT WON'T TAKE AN HOUR OF NOTHING HAPPENING BEFORE THEY EVEN GET TO THE BLOODY ISLAND.

Therein lies the problem. This film is like a bit of Ribena put in a bath instead of a tumbler. The punchy, sweet, powerful raw material has been diluted so far that the excellence is lost.

There are so many great ideas in this movie. The T. Rex fight is incredible, the stampeding dinosaurs amaze, and New York shines in the final scenes. But every idea Jackson has is stretched and pulled beyond the length it should be.

Tie this in with the absurd one hour build up to getting to the island, and the potential of delivering one of the greatest blockbusters of all time is lost amongst the padding.

My recommendation? Get a ticket, but go to the pub until an hour into the movie, you won't miss a thing.

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?