THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
For generations, we’ve come to understand there are monsters that come in all shapes and sizes. In the 1930s, Hollywood showed us many we wouldn’t think would stand the test of time. Looking back, there was nothing quite effective like King Kong .
PLOT
The 1933 film follows filmmaker Carl Denham planning to produce his next motion picture at the uncharted Skull Island. At the last minute, he is able to hire struggling actress Ann Darrow as the lead, not telling her where production will take place but promises it will be the adventure of a lifetime. They board the Venture led by Captain Englehorn and during the sails, Darrow would fall for the first mate John Driscoll. When reaching the island, the crew would encounter a native village worshipping a god they call Kong and sacrifice a young man of their tribe to be his new bride. The said village would take notice of the crew trespassing but when seeing the beautiful woman that is Ann, they off six of their tribal women in exchange for her, which Englehorn refuses on behalf. That doesn't stop them taking her unwillingly by night. She would then be taken through a gate and onto an altar where she would be offered to Kong, who is revealed to be a giant gorilla. When the crew finds her absent on the ship and sees the commotion on the island, they deduce the woman to have been taken and choose to storm the island to rescue her. Driscoll would lead the Venture crew into the island's jungle to find Darrow, but would not go unharmed as they would encounter dangerous dinosaurs along the way. Driscoll almost suffer the wrath of Kong, but would avoid it when the gorilla protects Ann from other dinosaurs like the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Driscoll would find the damsel in the cave where Kong rests and rescue her from the behemoth when he gets caught up fighting off multiple prehistoric beasts. When Kong notices her escape, he follows them back to the village. He tries to take Ann back for himself, but is knocked down by the remaining crew via gas bombs. Believing to have found something bigger than a film, Denham would take Kong to New York and shackle him in chains as a personal attraction on Broadway, nicknaming him as the Eighth Wonder of the World. The showcase would go past his control when the gorilla breaks free and whisks Ann away, climbing on top of the Empire State Building. The king's reign of terror would be stopped when he would be shot off the tower by four biplanes. As Kong would fall to his death, Ann would safely reunite with Driscoll. As the crowd of NY look in awe of Kong's corpse surrounding the street, the film would end with Denham declaring it was Beauty that killed the beast.
THOUGHTS
Monster movies have been quite a pleasure to watch no matter the year because with each setting, you are sure you are in for a set of unpredictability because you can't guarantee what you are in for when exploring the unknown. This has to be the most elite example when not thinking of the Universal Monsters catalog because the idea of Kong is something to behold. When first seeing him, I was in awe and simultaneously terrified because I couldn't believe my eyes. I don't exaggerate when I say the stop motion animation by Willis O'Brien and the scale sized motion models used for closeups ages well because as a late 90s baby, I was impressed of the execution done to bring him to life. With such techniques, this is what it would take to be intimidated of such a creature yet he appears close to human like any average ape would because through the runtime, we respect him more than fear him. We're rooting for him to take down the dinosaurs that impose him because he has something to protect. His motive is to seek a mate and he thought he found the one when being introduced to Ann. We know she doesn't belong to him, but that doesn't mean you can't respect him fighting for what he wants because it's a feeling we all go through. And off of that, we actually pity his downfall because he was taken against his will like a slave and was killed for pursuing love. The allegory is uncanny once you realize it and from there, you won't be able to stop feeling bad for the beast. When I look back on all of this, it makes me believe this was a story where there is nothing wrong to fall for love, but don't fall too far because there's no guarantee you'll get back up. That's the situation that occurred for Kong that commences our pity for such a character. We don't even get to this point had it not been for others who were trying to seek glory. In this iteration compared to the remakes, it is very fair to call Denham a villain because Robert Armstrong makes him such an arrogant person he doesn't have his own limits with his own imagination. That can be a good thing when wanting to make something special like an average film, but he chose to go in over his head when choosing to exploit Kong. You don't feel bad for him at all when things don't go his way because he didn't have to do that at all. It was one thing to refuse going home empty handed, but this was again over the line because that sets up the secondary theme where you shouldn't immediately do something if you know you can. He may have learned his lesson upon the aftermath, but the damage was so severe I doubt his career would recover from it. The only person that doesn't sound likely to dislike is Ann because Fay Wray portrays her as one willing to do anything to get by because she was in a position where she had nothing to lose. In this case, she has nothing but fear when looking at Kong which is a rightful way to feel because connecting with a creature is going to be a difficult situation. He may have protected her from other creatures, but she never really had the time to appreciate where he was coming from which is why she was visibly safer in Driscoll's arms, thus making the most bizarre love triangle to date. He chose him by the end because based on Bruce Cabot's grounded performance, she appreciated how protective he was. And he fell for her in return because he saw how big of a heart she had. While I'm sure the two will have a healthier relationship upon such an aftermath, there is no doubt this unpredictable adventure came from Ann herself and it wasn't even her fault. The film's final line spoken by Denham 'It, was beauty killed the beast' strikes my heart to this day for how true it is because it was Kong's love for Ann got him killed. For that, I don't think I could ever be so devastated upon realization because it is a situation that is real for many people and I wish it wasn't the case. And the more I think about it, the more I wish Kong was never in such a position but then again, greed can create unplanned journeys for everyone. In short, directors Merian C Cooper & Ernest B Schoedsack make a captivating adventure film that also sets the bar in how grounded monster flicks can be overall. If you enjoy either kind of film, you're in for the best of both worlds.
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