'Twas Beauty Killed the Beast.

And lo, the beast looked upon the face of beauty. And beauty stayed his hand. And from that day on, he was as one dead.

I fell in love with the big ape as a kid. At some point in my childhood, I saw the 1933 version of the movie; I don't remember how old I was when I saw it. I was fascinated by the idea of a giant ape who fought dinosaurs and pterodactyls. The whole "love story" aspect of the movie went way over my head at the time. I saw the 1976 remake around 1978 or '79 - whenever they started airing it on NBC as the movie of the week, or whatever they called it then. (That's what they did with theatrical releases before the advent of VHS and DVDs). I picked up on the love story this time, especially when Dwan (Jessica Lange) is begging Kong not to put her down because she knows the helicopters are going to shoot him down. I loved the mighty 8th wonder of the world, even though he was quite obviously a man in a suit. Lemme tell ya something: Peter Jackson's remake is BY FAR the best of the three. (The 1980s sequels to King Kong aren't even worth mentioning, btw.) I'd heard complaints that nothing happens in the the first hour of the movie. That's not true. Jackson introduces the main and supplementary characters, and fleshes out their backgrounds and personalities. This caused me to be emotionally vested in their predicaments once they reach Skull Island and all heck breaks loose. I really felt it when things happened to the characters. Usually only books draw me in like that - it's quite nice when a movie that's so visually stunning also packs an emotional wallop.

As for the aforementioned Skull Island, it's the creepiest place I've ever seen. I would've lasted about 3 minutes there - assuming my ship wasn't bashed to pieces on the rocks. That scene when the camera crew finds out that the island isn't uninhabited is priceless. You can feel the impending doom building, and there's nothing you can do about it. Incidentally, a dentist could make a fortune on that island.

And then there's Kong. No stop motion photography here. No man in a suit, walking and standing like a man. Nope. Kong is borne out in full fledged CGI a la Gollum for the LOTR flicks. This Kong is quick, agile, and STRONG. The fight with the 3 T-rexes is worth the price of admission. Did I mention that he's holding Ann Darrow almost the entire time he's fighting? One thing is certain: Kong ain't no punk! And then when he finally gets to fight without being encumbered by Miss Darrow, he handles his business. And this Kong has personality. At times he's a monster; at times, he's a big hairy kid. There is one scene that was unintentionally funny to me; Kong and Ann are sitting atop the Empire State Building enjoying a sunrise right before the biplanes arrive for the final showdown. Ann is sitting in his hand, and I kept expecting Kong to clutch Ann and say, Gollum style, "My precious!". Well, it was funny to me at the time.

The love story between Jack Driscoll (Adrian Brody) and Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) is pretty understated, which was good. I think that subplot seriously weakened the '76 film. Here, it's shown just enough to make you understand why Brody goes to the lengths he does to save Ann. The eventual "relationhip" between Ann and Kong is also well played, and never strays into the realm of the unbelievable (assuming of course that you can believe in a 25-foot ape and an island full of dinosaurs to begin with). The genuineness of their relationship gives the denoument its power to punch you in the gut and bring you (not me, of course!) to tears.

The inclusion of the famous deleted scene involving giant insects and a ravine was a masterful stroke. Kudos, Mr. Jackson. I just wish you'd not felt the need to invoke God's name in the manner you did those two times.

A special thanks to Country Girl for hosting the viewing party and to Mr. Country Girl and Tman for feeding us. Daily Notion and Diamonds on the Inside rounded out our group. I hadn't done the group movie night thing in a while; I need to rectify that. Who's up for War of the Worlds?