This Monkey Shines

In David Gordon's early – and rave – review in Newsweek of Peter Jackson's King Kong, has he inadvertently described the big ape as a typical studio executive in Hollywood's metaphorical jungle?

Jackson's updated ape is still king of the jungle, but he's getting a bit long in the snaggletooth. In human terms, he's pushing 50. His jaw is offset and his right eyebrow droops from long-ago scrapes with dinosaurs. His fur is matted and mucky, with bald patches here and there from the scar tissue. And he's developing a potbelly. "Peter really wanted a sense that Kong is old and grizzled and scarred," says [screenwriter Philippa] Boyens, "because it tells a story of being alone. And of having to survive in the most dangerous place on earth." Kong's existence is pure brutality – until Ann comes along.

(Watch the trailer)

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