Go watch King Kong

[Sandman]

One thing which has struck me as odd about this and several other movies recently is the way they're marketed. Many recent blockbusters have had a fair bit of violence and darkness in them, and King Kong is no exception.

But they're still promoted as if they're family-friendly fun, via action figures, happy meals, puzzle books etc. Earlier this year I saw Batman Begins sticker albums, and that had a 15 certificate in the UK.

Seems a bit strange, doesn't it?

[realpolitic]

Syriana

Maybe I've know that that sort of thing goes on all the timeBORING

Aeon Flux

Had an unusual plot, couldn't easily tell who were the good guys and the bad guys.

[realpolitic]

DP

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by BillyBud
CGI seems to be a new toy that many of today's animators and directors simply do not know how to handle well.

Such films as episodes 1 and 2 of the Star Wars movies and now King Kong, show the inability of some movie makers to use CGI well.

In fact, many of the scenes in some movies that use CGI just look amateurish. The movie makers seem to feel that the theatre audience has a low attention span and that MORE of anything is BETTER: why have one spaceship firing lasers when you can stick 200 on the screen; why have 3 dinosaurs running when you can have 50 stampeding...

Rather than developing a sense of wonder, all this CGI on the screen becomes just a bunch of clutter and noise; we do not have a focal point upon which to focus our attention, and our senses become overwhelmed...

Rather than enjoying a scene, we are repelled by it; our senses simply become numbed by all the action...

All the CGI clutter on the screen becomes even more annoying because we know that the characters are not real. Much of the action defies both real world physics and common sense; thus our enjoyment of a scene is instead turned into one of disappointment...

Perhaps, one of the best uses of CGI was done by Speilberg in the original Jurassic Park. He instilled within me (at least) a real sense of wonder. His scenes with the single T-Rex attacking that sight-seeing party (with Jeff Goldblum) was sooo well done...

Speilberg showed restraint and control, and he showed a maturity in the use of CGI: a little well done CGI goes a long, long way...

Hear, hear!

[Sprayber]

Originally posted by Sandman
One thing which has struck me as odd about this and several other movies recently is the way they're marketed. Many recent blockbusters have had a fair bit of violence and darkness in them, and King Kong is no exception.

But they're still promoted as if they're family-friendly fun, via action figures, happy meals, puzzle books etc. Earlier this year I saw Batman Begins sticker albums, and that had a 15 certificate in the UK.

Seems a bit strange, doesn't it?

Me and my gf took the kids (7 and 5) and were cringing at a few points in the movie.

[polarnomad]

Originally posted by Sprayber

Me and my gf took the kids (7 and 5) and were cringing at a few points in the movie.

I'm 30 and I was cringing in certain parts of the movie! If I had watched it at age five I think I wouldn't have been able to sleep for a month! Particularly the scene where they fall into the "bug pit" and the cook gets swallowed by those worm thingees... My friend sitting next to me said, "Damn this movie is violent!" right at that moment.

How did the kids handle it?

[OzzyKP]

I liked it

As Sprayber said, it was good, not great.

[JohnT]

"Logic" complaints about a movie featuring a Giant Ape is dumb, but what the hell...

I just saw it.

Possibly one of the most uneven movies I've ever seen. Gorgeous CGI followed two minutes later by a bluescreen shot so horribly done that the seams are obvious. A film plagued by such a stark, savage depiction of a Black tribe that it made me squirm in my seat with embarrassment. Blame it on my conditioning.

And logic, plot loopholes one could drive a truck through...

... What the hell happened to all the Islanders after Kong appeared? Were they massacred?

... For people who have never been there before, they seemed to have no trouble getting where they wanted on the island. Need to appear exactly at the drawbridge, being chased by Kong, at the correct moment? No problemo!

... In Titanic, one of the more unbelievable scenes is when Winslet takes an ax and hits the handcuff, but not Di Caprio's hand. In Kong, we are expected to swallow a person using an automatic weapon for the first time being able to shoot bugs off a man from 5 feet away, with the shooters eyes closed at times, without hitting the bug-infested guy once.

9 times. It was like watching Sophie score 120,000 in Duck Hunt... while 5 inches from the TV set. But this time with her eyes closed. (Did I mention my daughters mad DH skillz?)

... Damn, that was some thick ice.

... This movie reminded me a bit of The Goonies - people running and screaming everywhere, somehow ending up where they needed to be next. However, unlike The Goonies, we were treated to endless scenes of groups of smokers outrunning muscled-up wild animals. From Velociraptors to T-Rex's to Brontosauri to Kong himself, they'd seemingly pause to have a smoke and then run some more.

But I don't care about the above, not really. I understand that all movies, even documentaries, take place in their own little world, with their own rules and physics and laws, etc, especially movies about Giant Apes.

But what really kept on taking me out of this movie, more than the deus ex machina of the bug scene, was the complete and total pounding that the lead took during... well, the entire freakin' movie... and her being no worse for wear other than having some dirt stains and a cut on her inner thigh. Not that I minded seeing her inner thigh - Miss Watts is quite the comely creature and I appreciated every minute she was on screen - but I kept thinking "God, that's gotta hurt, lady!"... over and over, again.

I loved much of the cinematography, especially Kong on the Empire State Building in the early dawn (a time rarely utilized in films with a sense of promise). I wish the movie would've focused more on Naomi and Kong and less on chase/action. I'm glad we didn't have to suffer through an explanation as to how they got Kong on the ship, kept him contained all the way to NY, etc. While I understand Jackson's message that people can revert to barbarism given enormous environmental pressure, I wish he would've made them less savage.

Sadly, when I introduce Sophie to King Kong it won't be with this movie. Too mean, too violent, too cruel. It had some great moments, but wasn't a great movie.

[FrostyBoy]

Originally posted by polarnomad

Particularly the scene where they fall into the "bug pit" and the cook gets swallowed by those worm thingees...

my favourite part!

The Bug Pit! An entire movie could be done on just the bug pit!