The Kong's Too Long!
Saw Peter Jackson's King Kong last week - a fantastic piece of cinema. Many of the negative criticisms have been over the extended running time. I remember reading that the studio bods were horrified when they heard the director's cut was three hours long, but after viewing it they decided it was fine as it was, and left it alone. Having said that, I think it was too long for what was essentially a simple (and well-known) story; but don't get me wrong - it wasn't too long in the Oh-God-when's-this-gonna-end? sense (I didn't glance at my watch once throughout the screening); I just think there was a lot of unnecessary character development with the secondary bods (i.e. Jamie Bell's character and the captain, etc.) It didn't make sense to build these characters up when they vanish completely from the storyline in the final third of the film. Still,it's an editorial quibble. Like I've already said, fantastic cinema! The realisation of Kong will go...