Tag Archives: Reviews

King Kong (2005)

I didn’t like this film very much. For one thing is was just FAR too long. Throughout the film there were scenes that could have been taken out and it seemed like Peter Jackson was going for some kind of epical final product which was unnecessary. While there were some scenes (the fight with the dinosaurs, Kong in New York) that were really incredible and just fun to watch, there were an equal amount of scenes that seemed gratuitous and didn’t do anything for me. Also the characters were incredibly superficial. You never get to know them on any kind of level, which I’m sure is what he was going for. He was trying to recreate the kind of shallowness of characters from films in the 1930s and he did it well, but if you’re going to establish that sort of basic character development and not go any further than there is no way that you can develop the story as much as they did. It’s one or the other. I will say that I think he shot a lot of the film beautifully. Particularly the scenes with Naomi Watts. I was pretty enamored every time she stared at the camera. I liked Kong a lot too. He looked incredible and they did an excellent job of establishing his relationship with Watts, in fact, now that I think about it they almost went too far with that too. By the end it kind of felt like a bull fight. Just kill him already.

Sin City (2005)

As my friend Preston put it, “I have been waiting for a movie like this.” It’s been awhile since I saw a film that felt as flawless as this one. The story develops appropriately, and certainly feels like Pulp Fiction, but, as much as the characters don’t need to be accountable as real people, I would dare to say that it excels past Tarantino’s best film. The three stories that develop in the film mix horrific violence with dark humor and translate to some of the best noir I’ve ever seen. Aside from how great the story was, as well as the characters (Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen, and Bruce Willis are all phenomenal) the film looks amazing! Every shot is a masterpiece, and the colors give each character their own personality. I think what it comes down to is that movies like this are the next step in film. Yes we can make movies that look visually stunning, but when we are able to do that in a way that only lends itself to the story, and in no way has to hold it up, that’s the true compilation of technology and great writing