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I love monster adventure films. I believe they are some of the most imaginative movies around in cinema. Growing up, my dad had the old school Godzilla collection. Seeing Godzilla walk through the streets of Tokyo and blowing stuff up was terrific. Then there was Rodan and Mothra, and the list can go on and on. Just watching these beasts destroy cities was awesome. The little kid in me was so excited. Even though Godzilla is king of the monsters, there is always one that challenges the title…….King Kong. I didn’t know much about King Kong besides the Universal Studios ride. If you never rode it or even missed out on riding it, it was AWESOME. Riding on the tram as the giant ape attacked was always a fun time. I remember the drop or Kong looking inside the tram. Oh, the memories. Through all of this, I never really watched any movies in the King Kong franchise. I slightly remember the 1976 version of the film. I did see the Peter Jackson version but never sat and watched the original.
Like all movies, sometimes, you just need to go to the beginning. Start with the old school. Start where the inspiration for monster movies come from. If you trace back far enough, you will ultimately come to the beginning. Before there was Jurassic Park, Mighty Joe Young, Godzilla, Predator, Alien, and so many others where things go crazy, there was one movie. That movie is the 1933 version of King Kong. The 1933 version of this movie is the Grandfather of monster movie cinemas. This film took me on an unbelievable ride I wasn’t expecting to go on.
The film was directed and produced by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest Scheodsack with a screenplay by James Creelman and Ruth Rose, the story by Edgar Wallace and Merian C. Cooper and stop-motion animation by Willis O’Brien. Cooper and Scheodsack presented a story that is not that surprising at all for this day in age but one that stands the test of time. King Kong starts off when the acclaimed director and producer Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) is famous for making adventure films. Many people know his films from showing remote and exotic locations with wild animals. Denham wants to set out without the studio, knowing where he is going to film a big movie. The studio wants him to find a girl for his next film. Denham agrees and states that “he will find a girl even if he has to marry one.” While walking through the streets of New York City, he spots Ann Darrow (Fay Wray), who is quite beautiful. Denham convinces Darrow to play his leading lady in his next film. Denham hires a ship named the Venture with the ship’s first mate Jack Driscoll (Bruce Cabot). The boat sets out to an unknown location. While sailing in the remote ocean of the Pacific, Denham reveals to the crew that they are going to a remote island that isn’t on any map. A map that he purchased from a seaman in Singapore. The island is Skull Island, and on this island is where the legendary giant ape named Kong calls his kingdom. Denham hopes to film Kong to be the main star of his next film. Arriving at the mysterious island, the natives want Ann as their sacrifice to Kong. After the refusal from the crew, Ann is kidnapped by natives. The natives present her as a sacrifice to the enormous ape Kong who rules over their jungle. Things come ahead when the crew sets out to rescued Ann, and the legendary beast is captured and brought to a new jungle. A jungle, unlike anything Kong, has ever seen or ruled over.
Where this movie stood out and had me in awe was when the crew arrives at Skull Island with the appearance of Kong and the whole Skull Island scene with all the threats. This is when the story honestly picked up and became very, very entertaining. Everyone around should stand up and applaud Willis O’Brien for his mastery and work. Now I have seen a lot of monster movies and CGI. Nothing like CGI nowadays, but the special effects for this time was extraordinary. I nodded my head and was like, “Not bad. Not bad at all.” The one thing this movie did was make it look like the actual crew was attacked by the monsters of the island. The use of stop-motion animations, live-action, and subtle painting and art was phenomenal. Now I did laugh when the crew was attacked by the stegosaurus. I was like, really? This is the best this movie could do. It was like the team was shooting at a screen. You knew it was off. After the stegosauruses scene, that is when all the true stop-motion came into real art. The scene with the crew facing a Brontosaurus was just amazing. I was on the edge of my seat when the brontosaurus gave chase to the crew while also mauling one crew member, and chasing another up a tree was just amazing. The use of Kong and how he had to fight all the different types of creatures on the island was just jaw-dropping. Dude showed why he was king of the island after fighting a T-Rex, a snake-like Elasmosaurus, and a Pteranodon. Even the interactive scenes with Kong and Ann were marvelous. You know Kong doesn’t exist in the real world, but just the way the movie is made from how Kong holds Ann to the log stump the crew is on. Everything about the Skull Island scene is fantastic.
What should be noticed about this movie is the compassion of the Kong towards Ann. One might view it as Kong taking his prize and being a savage animal. Yet, Kong shows genuine love and care for Ann and defends her as best as he can even though she and everyone else sees him as a raging monster. It doesn’t help that when Ann is rescued by Driscoll, Kong goes on a rampage like no other. He straight up destroys the village. He stomps on several natives. The film did a close-up and all with Kong stomping on a person. He didn’t do it just once. He had to step on people twice to make sure. Back to what I was saying, he cares for Ann. This is shown in New York City. He searches high and low for Ann. He even looks at one woman and tosses her aside. When he finally finds her and takes her up to the top of the Empire State Building. He protects her from the plane. He even looks at her and gives her one last touch before falling to his death.
With this great movie, there are also some downsides. First, it takes a while for the movie to get going. About a third of the way in the film, you’re wondering if anything was going to happen. It has a very, very slow start. The second area that is a downside is how the natives are portrayed. Now it was the standard back in the 1930s, but it is very sensitive today. Kong looks like an African-American, and it shows with his facial expression of those old-timey films that portrayed African-Americans. The stereotype of blacks as being apes/monkeys is demonstrated as they dance around in ape-like outfits and pound their chest. Not a highlight of the film, but it will do for now.
The original King Kong is still a movie worth watching today, even with its many remakes. This movie has stood the test of time with its use of live-action and stop-motion animations. One can not marvel at how well the special effects were at this time compared to now. There are many kings of the jungle, but there is only one King of Skull Island, and his name is King Kong.
