The mixed audience reaction to "King Kong"
Anakin turning in Episode 2 is the entire point of EP3 if not the entire series: if you didn't buy it (as I didn't) then everything else that motivates his turning and everything that his turning motivates falls flat.
I've talked with some people who think that King Kong was absolutely stunning. I've also talked with some people who were totally disappointed - even people in my industry, whose opinions ought to be foregone conclusions. With everyone I've talked to the crucial point seems to be "did you accept that there was chemistry between the girl and the monkey?" If you accept that Ann could have compassion for her captor-turned-protector then the movie works. If you accept that Ann's pratfalls could persuade Kong from dispatching her to the same fate of his previous "brides" then the movie works.
I accept that, intellectually, and emotionally, "Kong" can be a stretch especially if it's viewed the wrong way. Some people see Kong as a dumb and abusive boyfriend, if not a racist caricture yelling "where da white Skull Island women at?" while Ann is a caricature of the classic domestic abuse victim protesting "he pulls my arms off because he loves me!"
But that's not what I saw. Kong is the last of his species living in a hostile and lonely place where the only thing he thought about was survival. Ann is the only thing to relate to him in any way other than running away, worshiping him, or trying to eat him. And Ann is the ultimate little girl who still wants a pony even though her parents told her that they don't have any room for a pony in a Manhattan apartment. My heart went out to them, as doomed as they both were, and that's why the movie worked for me.
I've talked with some people who think that King Kong was absolutely stunning. I've also talked with some people who were totally disappointed - even people in my industry, whose opinions ought to be foregone conclusions. With everyone I've talked to the crucial point seems to be "did you accept that there was chemistry between the girl and the monkey?" If you accept that Ann could have compassion for her captor-turned-protector then the movie works. If you accept that Ann's pratfalls could persuade Kong from dispatching her to the same fate of his previous "brides" then the movie works.
I accept that, intellectually, and emotionally, "Kong" can be a stretch especially if it's viewed the wrong way. Some people see Kong as a dumb and abusive boyfriend, if not a racist caricture yelling "where da white Skull Island women at?" while Ann is a caricature of the classic domestic abuse victim protesting "he pulls my arms off because he loves me!"
But that's not what I saw. Kong is the last of his species living in a hostile and lonely place where the only thing he thought about was survival. Ann is the only thing to relate to him in any way other than running away, worshiping him, or trying to eat him. And Ann is the ultimate little girl who still wants a pony even though her parents told her that they don't have any room for a pony in a Manhattan apartment. My heart went out to them, as doomed as they both were, and that's why the movie worked for me.