Who wants to learn a little film history today? Now, before you just click away to somewhere else, hear me out. Everyone's favorite giant ape- King Kong- has a longer and more storied history than people often realize. Save for the classic original (1933), crappy remake (1976) and great remake (2005), there is also the semi-good sequel (already reviewed) and the even worse sequel to the first remake(1986). Don't worry, I'll cover that in time.
What people often don't realize is that the big guy was not just napping during all this downtime though. He actually starred in two films in the 1960s and was planned to be in several more (including Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster). Many of you may be familiar with the first one (King Kong vs. Godzilla), but what about...
Honestly, this film is an improvement in one major way- Kong does not look like crap. Anyone who has seen that malformed suit in K.K.v.G. knows what I'm talking about. This one still looks as silly as any other Toho/Rankin-Bass costume though.
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The film's plot is pretty damn silly, to be quite honest. In the wake of Kong's fame, a crazy scientist builds a robot designed to look like him for an evil experiment. The man- Doctor Who- is seeking out a rare element that will help him with his experiments. Unfortunately, the robot fails at its duty, leaving the man with only one option: get the real thing.
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This proves to be about as simple as it sounds, but the man does succeed. Using the power of science, he hypnotizes our hairy hero to do the job right. Being the...um, ape of virtue that he is, Kong manages to break free and does the titular action that you expect. A long and epic battle between Kong and Mechani-Kong ensues. This goes back and forth, somewhere in the middle introducing another monster named Gorosaurus as well. This is a Toho film, so don't bother looking for a real logical reason for that. Just go with it. Love and the real, giant ape prevail in the end.
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I apologize for being so brief here. The plot is just so silly that is almost best to let you take it all in. Besides, I'm feeling lazy. I really enjoyed this film though, even more so than King Kong vs. Godzilla. Toho's love for the swinging and fun film is evident here, as it will be in tomorrow's review. It is definitely more fun than the 1970s and 80s Kong films. Unless a three second blur of Linda Hamilton's breasts is enough to sell a movie for you, avoid both of them. This is a keeper though- a silly one, mind you. You can always do worse.
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If you liked this review, then you will love the next one. Get em, Joker! Stay tuned...
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