I agree with most of you that the effects were spectacular, but judging a film on this single criterion makes one a shallow viewer. You must judge the story on its completeness, the characters must be judged for their depth and believability (and yes, I found Kong to be a believable character, but found most of the others to be very shallow, indeed). The cinematography was interesting but typical of modern films, the costumes not correct for the period, same with the hairstyles. The New York exteriors were contrived, and some obviously shot on the Universal back lot.
As I sit and think hard about the film I am having trouble finding anything very positive to say about it, except the special effects. The Kong character was spectacular, but the rest of the effects were no better than Jurassic Park's effects, especially given the advancements in CG technology over the last 12 years.
That said, I could have overlooked any shortcoming if one major flaw did not exist.
A film must be believable on certain levels, in order to get me to suspend my disbelief on other levels. There must be enough believable elements for me to see through the obviously unbelievable ones. This film failed in a major way in inevitability, and I'm not referring to the Kong character.
Some examples: How did the main characters constantly elude death at every turn, when it was clearly obvious that they should have died many times over? How did seven men get Kong into the boat? How did they keep him subdued on the voyage, and indeed right up through the curtain going up in the theater? Why weren't Ann's hands ripped off (or at least her wrists broken) when Kong ripped her from her rope bindings when he first took her? That must have hurt! Why weren't Ann's feet cut to shreds as she ran through the jungle? Why didn't Ann get dirty and her dress rip to shreds during her ordeal in the jungle? Why did her hair stay nice and neat and her dress stay clean and white? How did she end up with only a minor facial scratch after being thrown around the jungle over and over? Why didn't Ann's skull get bashed in, or her brain jarred loose as Kong swung her violently during her capture and the scenes with the T-Rex.
How could Carl, and other men survive a fall from such a great height when Kong knocked them off the log? Why weren't they crushed to death as the log came tumbling down on top of them? Why didn't Jack and Carl and the others get absolutely crushed to death by the dinosaurs as the beasts overtook them running through the jungle? Why didn't they get crushed to death as 10 or 12 dinosaurs all fell down all at once on top of them? Why wasn't everyone dead by this point in the film? Why wasn't Jack hit by a single bullet fired by Jimmy, even though every spider swarming over Jack's body was blown to smithereens, as untrained Jimmy fired blindly with his eyes shut? Why didn't the bats kill Jack and Ann, even as Kong was swarmed and mauled by them? Why didn't Jack get the least bit hurt when Kong flipped the taxi he was driving 20 feet into the air, doing a 360 and crushing the vehicle? Why didn't Ann freeze her @ss off when she met Kong in skimpy attire in the middle of winter in NYC? Why didn't Ann freeze when she and Kong were ice skating? Where did all the people go during the Central Park scene? Why weren't they running around screaming, trying to save their lives? Where did they all disappear to? Why would anyone in his or her right mind climb to the top of the Empire State Building, even for love (I was squeamish even in the comfort of my theater seat)? Why would any woman kiss Adrien Brody on top of the Empire State Building after having had such a great relationship with a real man, King Kong? This represents only a few of the unbelievable elements.
At every turn in this film the unbelievable overwhelmed the believable. It would have been very easy to not go so far over the top, tone back just a little, so the suspension of disbelief could have been as natural in this remake as it was in the original.
The sunrise and sunset scenes were quite nice. At least I found something good to say.
As I sit and think hard about the film I am having trouble finding anything very positive to say about it, except the special effects. The Kong character was spectacular, but the rest of the effects were no better than Jurassic Park's effects, especially given the advancements in CG technology over the last 12 years.
That said, I could have overlooked any shortcoming if one major flaw did not exist.
A film must be believable on certain levels, in order to get me to suspend my disbelief on other levels. There must be enough believable elements for me to see through the obviously unbelievable ones. This film failed in a major way in inevitability, and I'm not referring to the Kong character.
Some examples: How did the main characters constantly elude death at every turn, when it was clearly obvious that they should have died many times over? How did seven men get Kong into the boat? How did they keep him subdued on the voyage, and indeed right up through the curtain going up in the theater? Why weren't Ann's hands ripped off (or at least her wrists broken) when Kong ripped her from her rope bindings when he first took her? That must have hurt! Why weren't Ann's feet cut to shreds as she ran through the jungle? Why didn't Ann get dirty and her dress rip to shreds during her ordeal in the jungle? Why did her hair stay nice and neat and her dress stay clean and white? How did she end up with only a minor facial scratch after being thrown around the jungle over and over? Why didn't Ann's skull get bashed in, or her brain jarred loose as Kong swung her violently during her capture and the scenes with the T-Rex.
How could Carl, and other men survive a fall from such a great height when Kong knocked them off the log? Why weren't they crushed to death as the log came tumbling down on top of them? Why didn't Jack and Carl and the others get absolutely crushed to death by the dinosaurs as the beasts overtook them running through the jungle? Why didn't they get crushed to death as 10 or 12 dinosaurs all fell down all at once on top of them? Why wasn't everyone dead by this point in the film? Why wasn't Jack hit by a single bullet fired by Jimmy, even though every spider swarming over Jack's body was blown to smithereens, as untrained Jimmy fired blindly with his eyes shut? Why didn't the bats kill Jack and Ann, even as Kong was swarmed and mauled by them? Why didn't Jack get the least bit hurt when Kong flipped the taxi he was driving 20 feet into the air, doing a 360 and crushing the vehicle? Why didn't Ann freeze her @ss off when she met Kong in skimpy attire in the middle of winter in NYC? Why didn't Ann freeze when she and Kong were ice skating? Where did all the people go during the Central Park scene? Why weren't they running around screaming, trying to save their lives? Where did they all disappear to? Why would anyone in his or her right mind climb to the top of the Empire State Building, even for love (I was squeamish even in the comfort of my theater seat)? Why would any woman kiss Adrien Brody on top of the Empire State Building after having had such a great relationship with a real man, King Kong? This represents only a few of the unbelievable elements.
At every turn in this film the unbelievable overwhelmed the believable. It would have been very easy to not go so far over the top, tone back just a little, so the suspension of disbelief could have been as natural in this remake as it was in the original.
The sunrise and sunset scenes were quite nice. At least I found something good to say.