Usually I talk about new DVDs on Tuesdays, the day they're released. And, barring extraordinary circumstances, I'll be mentioning a lot of great stuff tomorrow. But today I felt the need to tell you something that must be discouraged.
I'm talking about King Kong: The Extended Edition. That would be Peter Jackson's three-hour ass-killer from last year, which was already pathetically overlong and overindulgent. But now Jackson has engaged in a fanboy's wet dream and included...MORE FUCKING DINOSAURS.
This is a movie full of sound and fury that truly signifies nothing. Clearly Jackson was so in love with all his digital toys, he just couldn't stop playing with them. As a result, what few but genuine virtues the film does possess are lost in all the noise and activity. The tragedy of the title character's downfall is lost, because we spend too much time away from him.
I've been a big fan of Jackson's past work, and I felt his Lord Of The Rings trilogy worked because the filmmaker had a distinct take on his material that made it so much more than just another spectacle. But with King Kong, Jackson fell into the trap of meaningless sensation, trying to overwhelm an audience with an overabundance of overabundance--stuff just keeps happening, long past the point of caring. If Jackson had any sense, he would have trimmed the film down and tried to find its heart. But no, instead he offers more flashy emptiness, and, oh yeah, also generates more income for a movie in which he has major profit points.
Apparently, when an artist dies, a capitalist is born.
