King Kong

I saw King Kong tonight. I can only give a one sentence review: I enjoyed and was thoroughly entertained by every single moment in the film, it's a masterpiece.

I loved the movie. It was a solid 10. But I want to take this time to talk about the absurdity of not enjoying a movie because of "bad CGI." A number of people, my own sister among them, left the theatre complaining as loudly as possible that the majority of the film looked no better than a mere X-Box game and that "Peter Jackson should know better."

To these people I say this: Humbug.

It's a movie. Why do movies need to have a hyper-realistic standard. Did the original King Kong look any more or less realistic? In this case it's the story that matters and if you aren't into the story then who cares about the CGI? Does that mean that Harryhausen movies are shitty because they don't meet the exacting standards of jaded nerds looking for a hyper-realistic cinema experience?

Then they complained that the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park looked better and that film came out 12 years ago. My argument to that is this: The rear projection in Notorious is better than the rear projection in North by Northwest, does that make North by Northwest a shitty film? No. North by Northwest is still a masterpiece, despite some dodgy effects.

But don't get me wrong, the effects in King Kong were amazing. My breath was taken away completely. I never doubted for a moment that Kong was a living, breathing creature that they must have captured and trained for the sole purpose of this production. And all of the sequences with Dinosaurs on Skull Island my have been a bit rubbery, but the human story is too interesting to care. Does the matte line around the Rancor lessen the effect of Anakin Skywalkers redemption? You see what I mean? Why would rubbery dinosaurs effect the tale of King Kong?

It is of my opinion that unless the CG is exceedingly bad in a film that isn't served well by the effect itself, you are not allowed to bitch about it around me.

I hate deferring to a master, but here it is:

"A special effect is a tool, a means of telling a story. A special effect without a story is a pretty boring thing." --George Lucas

...And King Kong was anything but boring.