Nothing Exceeds Like Excess
Directed by Peter Jackson; starring Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrian Brody…
Just as Wile E Coyote and the Roadrunner are natural enemies so, we’re told, movie directors must fight against evil studio bosses in their eternal struggle to make Great Art despite corporate interference. Lately, though, I’ve been noticing that some of the best movies have actually been made under the thumb if heavy-handed studio oversight. Hmm… Perhaps discipline and financial control can actually be good for the creative process.
Star Wars is an interesting example. George Lucas was a young, independent filmmaker with one hit (American Graffiti) when he started shooting the first movie. He was dependent upon the goodwill of his studio, which provided a modest budget and adult supervision in the form of producer Alan Ladd Jr. The result is still the definition of movie magic. In 1999, when Lucas started on the three prequels, he was a super-star mogul with his own studio. He had total creative control and an unlimited budget for Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Return of the Sith, even shooting them in-house at his Skywalker ranch. Having got through all of these once I, for one, cannot watch them again; they are objectively dreadful to the point that they taint my enjoyment of the original films.
Which brings us to Peter Jackson — a little-known New Zealander, with a couple of modest hits, when he started work on The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Rings was a labour of love and, though the films look like blockbusters, they were actually made on quite modest budgets (as such things are measured). Despite epic themes, the special effects never overwhelm the heart of the story, and Jackson finally brought a literary classic to full-blooded life on the screen.
The phenomenal success of the Ring movies, however, gave Jackson the keys to the kingdom for his big studio re-make of King Kong. The result shows how damaging it can for for a director to have too much money and too much independence.
King Kong starts promisingly enough with Jack Black quite effective as an ethically challenged filmmaker… The repartee is quick and the action lively as he entices struggling starlet Ann Darrow (Watts) and a writer (Brody) aboard a decrepit tramp freighter bound for Skull Island. Then we reach land and, after a bit of 1950’s National Geographic hoo-haw with the local natives, the action starts. And never stops.
The first set-piece lands our heroes in the middle of a rampaging dinosaur stampede that goes on long enough I thought it would be the centrepiece of the film. But it’s followed by another (very) extended chase sequence, then another as Ann is kidnapped by Kong and Brody’s newsman drags the rest of the crew along on a rescue mission. Soon it’s way too much of a good thing. The extended stunt sequences slow the pace of the story to a crawl as each plot point is held up for what seems hours until the set-piece ends. Trifles, such as dialogue and character, go flying out the window. Jackson would have been much better served by a much smaller budget that wouldn’t have had room for such follies.
With so much emphasis on the effects, his storytelling has also become uncharacteristically sloppy. Unfortunately these long sequences give us plenty of time to ask questions: what do the hundreds of enormous creatures eat on this tiny island?; how does some kid who’s never touched a firearm before Tommy Gun giant insects off the back of the hero without hitting him at least once?; how did the dozens of ship’s crew (brought along to be slaughtered by the monsters) all fit on that tiny boat?
The Lord of the Rings films were long, but I sat entranced through every minute. Here, when Kong starts to climb the skyscraper, I just wanted him to die already – so I could go outside and give my aching bum a break.
THUMB DOWN
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