Word: jacksonism
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Directed by Peter Jackson Universal Pictures 3 1/2 stars...
This is a quote from Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness,” which is referenced repeatedly in Peter Jackson’s new version of “King Kong.” In some ways it describes Jackson himself; after conquering the box office and the critical world with his “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, movie studios were falling over themselves in his praise and to hire him. Universal succeeded. Jackson was given $200 million to remake “King Kong,” Marion...
...Jackson benefits from this classic three act structure taken from the original film. Quite simply, he is not good with original screenwriting—a fact previously obscured by the privilege of working from the best-written fantasy novels in the English language. All scenes that are meant to be written as deep and aphoristic are astonishingly silly...
Unfortunately, the constantly reiterated relationship between Hayes (Evan Parke) the gruff, but heartfelt first mate and Jimmy (Jamie Bell, the “Billy Elliot” kid) is so bad as to verge on self-parody. Although it allows Jackson to develop the “Heart of Darkness” theme—Jimmy inexplicitly stole a copy from the New York Public Library—it loses the rhythm of the rest of the action. And yet, surprisingly, the film mostly works...
...beauty that killsthe beast this time. It's--sorry for the fancy literary phrase--"the anxiety of influence." Confronted with the task of remaking one of the best and most beloved movies of all time, director Jackson wishes to both pay homage to the original 1933 version and improve on it, which has caused him to edgily throw around money and technology to mixed avail. His homages to the original's most famous scenes are sometimes spectacularly expansive. Where once the Big Guy had just a handful of prehistoric creatures to deal with, he now has herds of them...