Chuck's Top Ten Movies of 2005 - Number 8

We continue with the top ten movie list of 2005, courtesy of renowned movie watcher, collector, and critic, Chuck Fournier. Here's Chuck's number 8 review:

King Kong
Academy award winning Director Peter Jackson has wanted to make this film for a long time. Now, after making Hollywood millions of dollars with the Lord of the Rings trilogy and giving himself quite a name in the process, he's been given the chance to make this massive movie. This three hour epic is quite a spectacle from start to finish.

The story begins in depression-era New York, then moves from there to a mysterious island filled with giant insects, dinosaurs and of course, Kong himself. The first hour of the movie is mostly character development, and the story of how and why they leave New York to search for this lost island.

A washed-up movie director, who is all but fired from a small studio in New York, makes a last ditch effort in producing his dream movie by conning a famous playwrite (Jack Driscoll, played by Adrien Brody) and vaudiville actress (Ann Darrow, played by Naomi Watts) to come with him on a run-down ship in search of a mysterious island to complete his wondrous epic. This first hour is ok, and it builds the anticipation for the main star of the movie - The giant ape himself.

The moment the ship reaches the island, the rest of the movie is non-stop adventure and excitment. The natives kidnap the actress, intending to sacrifice her to Kong. When the ship's crew discovers what has happened, they embark on a mission to find and rescue her. Unfortunately, as soon as they encounter the natives and try to free the heroine, Kong takes her and runs off. The movie then splits into two stories: One story follows the rescue team, trekking through the jungle, fighting and running from the various beasts, and trying to find Ann.

The other story is that of Kong and Ann. Now kidnapped, and at the mercy of this giant ape, Ann makes an escape attempt but soon finds it impossible to do so. She becomes desperate and tries to distract him by doing her vaudiville routine, juggling rocks, and dancing. It sounds corny, but it's actually quite charming and Kong gets a kick out of it. Soon Ann manages to escape, but doesn't get far before finding even more trouble with some giant centipedes (truly creepy) and a few T-rexes.

Kong jumps in to save her and there is an AMAZING battle between him and the three T-rexes. After Kong saves Ann, there is a friendship that develops between them that is actually very touching. It all sounds ridiculous having a relationship between a woman and giant ape, but it works, and the reason why it works is the performance by Naomi Watts and the performace/effects-work of Kong. Kong isn't just some big animal. You sense that he has real feelings, and you quickly grow to care for him.

Like I have already mentioned, this film is epic. The jungle world where most of the story takes place is so alive and majestic. From the giant creatures, to the lush landscapes and waterfalls. There are moments of true beauty in this film. The scenes in New York are also very memorable including the famous Empire State Building sequence. Watching this movie was a very entertaining, exciting, and moving experience.