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I honestly think King Kong (2005) is an underrated masterpiece

posted 4 years ago by MovieBuff224 (5053)
64 replies | jump to latest

It’s amazing to me how well it holds up. I know I’ve posted about this film before and I’m sure I will again, but it deserves it. As well received as it was critically and by audiences and as lucrative as it was at the box office (4th highest grossing film in Universal history at the time) I still feel like it quickly faded into distant memory for a lot of people, and many now even dismiss it as a flop or a bloated mess.

It has flaws, sure, but the highs are so high that they more than compensate for the lows. The shear passion and attention to detail in the costumes, set design, makeup, direction, action choreography as well as the epic scope, realism, and level of emotion brought to what was once considered a relatively simplistic and silly story and B movie (albeit a highly regarded and groundbreaking one.) Jackson’s passion for this material brought the story to life and made it believable.

The flaws were minor in my eyes, excessive run time (most of which could’ve been cleaned up by trimming some of the unnecessary dialogue/exposition) silly over the top action (it’s fucking King Kong) and some unpolished CGI (this is forgivable as he and Weta were extremely rushed, it’s honestly a miracle they delivered the movie they did in such a short time, and more than made up for by the good CGI)

Overall, 9.5/10 for me. One of my favorite films of all time, I will probably never get tired of watching it.

[–] bigbadwolf666 (4707) 4 years ago

I never liked it much.

I pretty much like any other Kong film over it. Ooh Yes Kong Island!

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

I also enjoyed this movie a lot but:

i. The cgi was noticeably sketchy in some scenes;

ii. It should have been pared down by an hour. The whole subplot between Jimmy and Hayes could have been removed or severely cut back... it added nothing to the story to my mind. Also, Peter Jackson sure loves those slo-mo establishing scenes because there are a LOT of them in this movie.

iii. The final scene on the Empire State building also drags on for too long.

Ironically, I wound up buying the extended edition which is even longer(!) because I wanted to see more island monsters. The scene in the swamp is considerably longer but the cgi is really bad, so I can see why they cut it for the theatrical release.

[–] MovieBuff224 (5053) 4 years ago

Yeah the Jimmy and Hayes subplot is essential to me because of the Heart of Darkness monologue alone.

[–] slimone (7996) 4 years ago

I liked the original King Kong made in 1933 with Fay Wray.

[–] brux (14666) 4 years ago

2005 was not bad, but I like the 1976 version better.

[–] MovieBuff224 (5053) 4 years ago

🤪 you sir are a maniac