Watching King Kong on Thursday night it was easy to see where all the money had gone. Peter Jackson had urged us to go to the bathroom, if we wanted to, during his intro speech rather than during the film – “you certainly don’t want to go in the last couple of hours” he advised. The last couple of hours? He was almost apologetic at the length of the film. No need. You won’t notice that it’s long.
There are elements of nearly all the big films in this one – a bit of Titanic, a small homage to Alien, a lot of Jurassic Park, some Indiana Jones, even a little Bambi and, of course, a whole lot of the 1933 King Kong. It would be no surprise if this becomes the biggest film of all time – in box office take terms – and I will guess that it will certainly outgross the highest grossing of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I can’t imagine what new stuff a director’s cut version could bring – another 40 minutes more footage, like the LotR versions?
I loved it. Go and see it.