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January 16, 2006
Well, I finally went to see King Kong last night. I sort of considered that the (belated) end of my holiday movie going, such as it was. I had been wanting to go see King Kong since before it came out, but couldn’t manage to find anyone to see it with me who hadn’t seen it already.
About two weeks ago I took my eight year old to see Narnia.
I was expecting to really like King Kong and to like Narnia maybe a little. But it was the opposite. I’m no movie or film expert, so my thoughts mean little, but here goes…
I liked almost everything about King Kong. It was a really good movie. The deference to the old King Kong was cool, the cast I thought was good, the island people were creepy, he island itself was magical in a really creepy way, the fight between King Kong and the T Rex like critters was unbelievable, the connection between Anne Darrow and King Kong was believable and moving, the flight of King Kong up the Empire State Building ending in his final sink into death and fall was sad. Yes, it was a good story and the special effects were incredible. Do I want to see it again? No. Did it move me? Not really. Did it make me think? Not much (except about the relationship between men and beasts).
Some fantasy-like stories don’t try to mean anything. They are just sort of fun, or good for escape. But King Kong seemed to want to mean something. And it didn’t. Not to me. It was a nice way to get out of the house and spend three hours with a good friend. Oh, did I mention the night bugs? They were very cool.
OK, Narnia. I went in with very low expectations. I have read the whole series multiple times, several out loud to my kids. I know the story almost by heart. As a Christian I am sympathetic to the allegorical aspects, but having read the story to my children I have been able just to read and enjoy the stories as stories. Unlike some local fantasy writer experts I think CS Lewis is pretty darn good in that department. Well anyway, it was one of those “how can the movie possibly come close to the book” sort of things. Plus I had read some negative reviews.
I went with my eight year old. The opening bombing scene helped provide context lacking even in the books. I wish in a way that the movie had started with The Magicians Nephew, but Lewis didn’t, so I guess the movie makers decided not to either…It may have suggested a little about the weird uncle, the wardrobe, and Narnia itself, but…I think that The Magicians Nephew is a great read as well and will make a great movie.
I thought the kid actors were great; in fact; they drew out the characters perhaps even better than did the books. Just their visual/verbal interactions gave a sense of the issues between the siblings. The wardrobe-to-Narnia transition scenes had me almost giggling with delight. Very well done. At first I didn’t like the witch. She wasn’t quite pretty or quite evil looking enough. But she became plenty witchlike as the story wore on. The temptation of Edmund by the witch, the “whispers" of Aslan’s reappearance, the chase, Edmund’s eventual pardon, the sacrifice of Aslan, the battle, these were all done very well. I was surprised that as much of the “theory” behind the death of Aslan was kept in the script; yet I thought the double or obscure meanings were sufficiently hidden enough for the movie not to come off as a Christian tract. Besides, the idea of one person sacrificing himself for others is universal.
I came away from Narnia satisfied at many levels. I want to see it again because I felt I missed a lot of things. It appealed to my imagination more profoundly because it spoke to “possibilities” that are and were more real than the surface story. But mostly, I was able to turn off my adult pretences and just enjoy it with my daughter as if I too were a child. In that sense it was really delightful. I hadn’t enjoyed a child friendly movie as much in a long time.
My favorite movies of 2005 were, more or less in order from most favorite, were “Walk the Line,” “Batman Begins,” ‘March of the Penguins,” “Narnia,” “Flight Plan,” “Crash,” “King Kong,” “Cinderella Man,” “Fever Pitch,” “The Man,” “Coach Carter,” The Upside of Anger,” “A History of Violence” (watched partly with my eyes covered), “Sky High,” ”Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith,” and (with a reluctant nod) “Are We There Yet,” which I found as funny as it was stupid.
Joel Gillespie
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