Peter Jackson created a full back story for Kong as a starting point for remaking cinema’s iconic giant ape and surrogate Kong Andy Serkis tells how much a labour of love it was for him when he befriended Zaire, one of the female gorillas, during months of research: and when his wife came to visit him, Zaire threw a water bottle at her.

Getting to the particular Kong at the centre of Peter Jackson’s remake was of paramount concern to filmmakers, and all involved had very strong ideas about how this Kong would be brought to the screen.

Philippa Boyens explains, “Very early on, right from the word ‘go,’ Peter wanted to make sure that the character of Kong was not a monster and was, in fact, a large silverback gorilla who happens to be 25 feet tall and 8,000 pounds. This Kong was not a monster and was not to be anthropomorphized.”

Jackson describes his central character: “We assumed that Kong is the last surviving member of his species. He had a mother and a father and maybe brothers and sisters, but they’re dead. He’s the last of the huge gorillas that live on Skull Island, and the last one when he goes…there will be no more. He’s a very lonely creature—absolutely solitary. It must be one of the loneliest existences you could ever possibly imagine. Every day, he has to battle for his survival against very formidable dinosaurs on the island, and it’s not easy for him. He’s carrying the scars of many former encounters with dinosaurs. I’m imagining he’s probably 100 to 120 years old by the time our story begins. And he has never felt a single bit of empathy for another living creature in his long life; it has been a brutal life that he’s lived.”

Film Review by Andrew L. Urban:
Once upon a time many movies ago, there was a film in which a small group of filmmakers found an unchartered island, home to exotic, dangerous creatures, including a giant ape ... Fairy tale and parable, simple escapism and multilayered tragedy, King Kong is all things to all men (and apes). To Peter Jackson, King Kong is an example of pure cinema, both from the point of view of the maker and the consumer. A big story with a big surface attraction as well as plenty of layers, the adventure and the thrills are as important as any of the underlying issues that are available for discussion.

But let's stick to the movie, a virile adventure that in its resurrection dwarfs Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park. It's no surprise that Jackson has retained the original 1933 setting, a time of depression and desperation in America. That mind set and those times are crucial to the film's psychological environment.

So meticulously and cleverly crafted that the results overwrite the methods, Jackson succeeds in making Kong as close to emotionally responsive as possible, yet without anthropomorphizing him. We surrender to the magic of cinema, not too bothered how the technicians worked their magic. And so it should be.

Andy Serkis provides the internal performance for King Kong, and it's well to remember that. At the very heart of the film, as it were, is a love story of sorts, which drives the emotional connection to the audience, an unlikely one between a beast and a beauty whose sheer presence tames the ape's heart. This basic element is the burning flame at the centre of the film.

Jackson's version of King Kong is, for the most part, a sensational reprise of the greatest virtues of old Hollywood with the greatest tools of modern filmmaking and a deeply human sensibility. Even where he takes poetic licence in a few scenes, he is referring to the filmmaking school that values imagery above crass reality. But he also stages some of the giant spectacles with the confidence of a master, those terrible, deadly fights with dinosaurs and other exotic beasts, making them seem all too real. There is real danger, real fear, real amazement value.

The human characters are also tested, though not as much as Kong, who is made to pay the ultimate price for his few moments of empathy with another creature. Naomi Watts is terrific as Ann, neatly balancing her showbiz toughness with natural panic, and the supporting cast all deliver genuine characterizations. A giant achievement, Kong is indeed a King of the cinematic jungle.


Courtesy Andrew Urban Cinephile
http://www.urbancinefile.com.au