King Kong (1933)

Maybe it’s a bad thing, but I saw this film and its 2005 Peter Jackson remake within two days of one another. I saw the ’05 version first, and the ’33 version second. The good thing is, I made sure that I wait on writing my reviews for either of them until I had finished the other one. And I am writing my review of this one first (and it should come up first unless my reviews glitch up like Hellboy did), to make sure that I get my opinions in. The film, I really shouldn’t compare it to the *cough*MUCH superior*cough* version, but it’s hard not to and I am sorry for that. The plot is basic. A woman goes along with a film crew to make a movie on a remote island that few people have ever seen, only to find out that the island is filled with homicidal natives, dinosaurs, and the giant ape Kong (later named King Kong “The Eighth Wonder of the World”) who takes a liking to the woman and kidnaps her, only to later be kidnapped himself and taken to be put on display in New York City, where he runs free, and then climbs the Empire State Building, creating what is arguably one of the single most famous scenes of all time (when the scene has been parodied on The Simpsons, it’s famous). The monsters in the film are stop-motion animation, which can be forgiven, due to the fact that it was made in 1933. Dang. The film is almost 80 years old. Dang…Either way, just because it was made in 1933, doesn’t mean that it excused from all flaws. The close-ups of the ape are obviously a man in an ape costume, and I am just asking them to be consistent. I don’t care if the entire thing is stop-motion, or if they take a Planet of the Apes route with it, I just want them to be consistent. Also, the main actress in the film is pretty bad. Most of her dialogue is screaming, and she even manages to mess that up! I would say, maybe it’s the direction, but all the other characters in the film work extremely well. But, despite these flaws, King Kong is a classic, and should be seen by everyone. And another positive note: It’s about half the length of the Peter Jackson version. So that should help those with shorter attention spans.
8.5/10