Sell it or shoot it

WARNING. SPOILERS AHEAD FOR KING KONG - THE MOVIE BY PETER JACKSON




That seems to be the tragedy behind King Kong... Well, like they always say there is always that comment on the human condition and I guess it is what you would call "normal behaviour" in sight of an enormous mystery right in the midst of New York...Well, that and the very idea of a lost island off the coast of Indonesia. The only plausible thing about that ludicrous idea is that it is the 1930s and it is very easy to miscount the number of islands when Indonesia has so many to its name...(its an archipelago).

However, when the original Kong film was made way back then, the 1930s wasn't a distant past, nor was Indonesia's numerous islands a matter. Personally, I am quite dubious whether the original producers even knew what Indonesia looked like on the map. That said, you can imagine what my initial reaction to the film was. A show with a blonde helpless wench who screams her head off and look scandalous. A really fake looking gorilla. A highly inaccurate portrayal of the said gorilla as an emotionless, mindless excuse to rampage through civilisation - Arrgghh. Big hairy beast meets metal skyscraper! Help. Faint. Pls don't ever wake up and scream some more...

Mercifully, Peter Jackson's rendition of the film was unexpectedly entertaining. There were in-jokes, really spastic bits, wit and high adventure. I particularly liked the scene on the boat, when Jack Driscoll (played by Adrien Brody) was in his temporary cabin (an apt location - a cage) typing away at a screenplay. I would think all scriptwriters in the world would sympathise with the scene. It clearly symbolises the stress of scriptwriting and the idea of being chained to deadlines and your work. For Driscoll, that chain transcends the virtual world and in fact serves as a bridge to the reel world reality of the movie.

Some things however, never change. Human avarice for one still exists today. One may say that greed and an exhibitionist streak has led us in the present to echo the mistakes of our past. The exploitative nature of tourism still exists today. Oh sure, the audience who gawked at Kong were comfortable in their own home country, and Kong in the 30s is a fictitious idea. However, the original idea of capturing a wild beast, a savage, and transforming it into a money spinner was conceived way back then, and touring creatures about IS tourist money...

Despite initial strong misgivings about the film, King Kong has turned out to be a fantastic show, unlike some other film where initial doubts were not alayed by watching it. You know what I'm talking about...just envision battered spaceships and light sabers. To cinclude - A thrilling circus act, brilliant cast and definitely NOT your typical jungle adventure.