King Kong: What’s the Big Deal?
We got to watch two movies this weekend (we could have watched three since it was a three-day weekend, but we went out on Friday night instead). Anyway, on Thursday night we watched King Kong, which Jim had pre-ordered from Amazon (I imagine he’ll order it all over again when the better version comes out, but I digress). We hadn’t seen it on the big screen and were really looking forward to seeing it. Being huge fans of the LOTR movies, I guess my expectations were higher than they should have been, because while I did find it hugely entertaining, I have to say that it left me feeling strangely disappointed, especially given the sterling reviews it’s gotten in the mainstream press and on BC.
I can’t quite put my finger on what it was that I felt was lacking. The special effects were great, and the action sequences were really well-done. The acting was good - I liked Naomi Watts, and Andy Serkis did a great job with Kong. Jack Black - meh, not so much. Anyway, the bottom line - it wasn’t a waste of time (although geesh, Jackson could’ve cut a good 30 minutes out of it and I wouldn’t have complained), but I’m still wondering why some people considered this one of the best films of the year.
On Saturday night, we watched The Chronicles of Narnia, which I enjoyed more. I have fond memories of reading The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe to Bryan when he was little, and I thought the movie was really well-done, except the part where Aslan dispatches the White Witch seemed a little abrupt and anti-climactic, and then the movie was over.
Well, two special effects films in one weekend probably isn’t a great idea. The next five films in our Netflix queue are Broken Flowers, Capote, Brokeback Mountain, Jarhead, and New York Doll. They all sound good to me.