By MrCere

Writer’s note: This does get to the King Kong presentation so hang with me, the pay off is worth it. It does contain spoilers, but I will give warning before they kick in.

SAN DIEGO – Well, well, well, damned if Peter Jackson didn’t pull of a little miracle. See, Comic-Con in San Diego, especially on Saturday, is a big outlet for Hollywood hype. For the price of a quickie plane ticket, a cab ride and 6,000 baseball caps or posters, big movie studios can target a core audience for a genre film like a sniper through a scope. Fans pay $40 to something close to $100 (all week pass) to basically sit through Hollywood’s commercials on the Saturday of the Con. Showing your commercial to people who pay for the privilege of watching it is a pretty special marketing opportunity.

Last Saturday in San Diego was a day-long orgy of Hollywood hype and promotion. I talked to fans that showed up early in the morning in lines for cavernous Hall H and stayed the entire day; although I was not able to pull that off for various reasons. I was in and out of the 6,500 capacity Hall H (‘H’ for Hollywood?, ‘H’ for hype?, ‘H’ for humongous?) to catch panels from several movie studios. The line-up of talent at the Con was stellar as usual (Forrest J. Ackerman, Morena Baccarin, Adam Baldwin, Kate Beckinsale, Amber Benson, Jack Black, Ray Bradbury, Adrien Brody, Bruce Campbell, Peter Chung, David Cronenberg, Martin Csokas (LOTR), Pete Doctor, Nathan Fillion, Kyle Gass, Ron Glass, Summer Glau, Maggie Grace, Ray Harryhausen, Pablo Helman, Sean Maher, Eva Mendes, Ron Perlman, Natalie Portman, Jewel Staite, Bryan Singer, Scott Speedman, Charlize Theron, Gina Torres, Naomi Watts, Joss Whedon and Rob Zombie among others). Get busy on IMDB.com if you don’t know these folks!

Thing is, it’s pretty fun to see film footage early so you can tell all your friends about it and it’s fun to see stars even if fans ask them mostly ridiculous questions and waste the time of the other 6,499 people attending. There are good questions too and these savvy celebrities know how to turn stupid questions into gold many times. Talent ranges from the sincerely grateful to the who-are-these-geeks variety but for many fans the contact is about as close as they can hope for, but I digress.

Hollywood wants to impress fans in San Diego on Saturday and they hope to carry the day by making the biggest impression at the show and then hope to spread infectious enthusiasm by getting wall-to-wall coverage on the internet. CNN.com, for example, features “Superman,” and “King Kong” as the two movies which stole the website’s headline about Comic-Con and therefore won the day. (And Warner Bros. which owns “Superman” and CNN are both properties of mega-media conglomerate Time Warner, so make what you will of that.)

The point is, everybody (meaning mega studios that spend millions and devote company sized departments to marketing) is trying real hard (‘H’ for hard?) to capture the “buzz” by way of Comic-Con. Hey, Star Wars had a presentation at the Con back in 1976 and that movie did okay right? The Con’s track record is pretty good.

Those paying attention at all the last few years knew that Peter Jackson would be sending a video to the convention introducing some footage or a trailer. He has been sending vids to Con since at least 1999 when he recorded a segment with Ian McKellen and Christopher Lee (not on any bonus DVDs so far, so let’s hope New Line saved it) for “The Fellowship of the Ring”. It seemed a fair bet that Universal Pictures would have Jack Black there since his “Tenacious D” was performing immediately after. Crowds were thicker than ever on a day of thick crowds and on behalf of KongIsKing.net readers, I made a sneaky entrance to make sure I was on-hand to cover the moment. (I butted).

The promised payoff

Despite other reports already posted, I just can’t help myself. As he often does, in his “hello Comic Con” video, Jackson promised that some day he will attend the Con in person but that he is always too busy making a movie. I recoiled in horror (‘H’ for horror?) imagining what the crowds would be like at Comic-Con on the day Jackson is scheduled to take the stage. Would he come and talk about his long dreamed of WWI zombie movie? “The Lovely Bones” perhaps, and is that even a ‘Con film?’ I am thinking me butting in line on that day would be impossible.

Clearly the man is passionate about the film he is making. He first saw the original Kong on television at age 9 in New Zealand. “It made me determined to be a film maker,” he said. He shot his first remake of Kong soon after but wasn’t able to finish the film (not yet even a teen) and according to his Con message, none of those original reels will make it into the 2005 version. (On the DVD maybe?)

Jackson then said he wanted to show us a trailer for the ‘Kong’ film but he realized that most of the audience (being avid movie-goers) had probably seen the trailer on the internet or with “War of the Worlds.” Yet we watched. Most had seen it and I know there has been some internet criticism of the teaser but as a guy who watched a lot of teasers over the weekend, it is more than solid. The lights came up, and as most KiKn readers already know, Jack Black, Adrien Brody, and Naomi Watts were introduced and were greeted to raucous yells and applause. It has been widely reported on internet articles I have seen that Black was the star of this particular segment of the show but I think that is misleading.

Black has a rabid following to be sure and there were many supporters of “The D” in the room but I think Watts and Brody were just as appreciated. Watts was in geek favorite “The Ring” and is fantastically beautiful, charming and graceful. She is a big star with lots of wattage (doh!) and has also starred in critically acclaimed films such as “Mullholland Dr.,” and “21 Grams.” Brody had the guts to kiss Halle Berry on live television, wowed critics and audiences with a top-notch performance in “The Pianist” and changed gears completely and convincingly in “The Village.” Each had a good share of fans but the “D” fans of Black’s, IMHO, over-represented themselves by rushing to the microphone stands and asking selfish questions and making it seem as if everybody on hand was all about “The D.” Further, questions about Black’s band were memorable because they were funny but Brody and Watts also fielded some questions that internet reports fail to mention. In fairness, a number of Tenacious D fans bought Saturday only Comic-Con tickets went to the Kong panel and the concert after and then left the Con, seeing nothing but the hallowed (‘H’ for hallowed?) hall.

Oh yea, but there was some footage too. I doubt my own memory already because it has been tainted by reading reports of the event, but I feel pretty confident that after the initial ruckus of recognition of seeing the three stars, they were put on hold while more of Jackson’s recorded message played. Jackson, acting as if the audience could give him feedback, asked if anybody would be interested in seeing something more from Kong. The crowd enthusiastically affirmed their desire to do so but Jackson, anticipating the response to a recorded message, turned his ear to the screen, explained that he was 6,000 plus miles away and encouraged the visitors to be a whole lot louder if he was to hear them. Most in the audience complied with the request for noise and video Jackson was ‘convinced’ to show it.

As the video pirates are know to say, “Arg! There be spoilers ahead!”

The footage came with a warning from the self described “nervous director” that what we were about to see was completely unfinished. The effects weren’t done and much of what we were going to see would be in animatic form from pre-visualization stages of the film which helps save time and money on big movies. He then wanted us to understand what that meant and showed an animatic from the Mumuk portion of the battle on the Pelennor Fields from “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.” Following the perhaps 20-second scene where unfinished cartoon giant elephants crash and tumble over one another, a finished and photo-realistic clip was shown of the same scene as it appeared in the film.

Providing more prolog for the scene, Jackson explained that what we would see is part of a more than six-minute battle sequence between Kong and the grand-daddy of the dinosaurs, T-Rex. Some internet reports have said that six minutes of footage was shown and that just isn’t true. We picked up the sequence in progress and it was between two and three minutes long, definitely not six, and Jackson explained that. Another error being reported is that the battle was between Kong and a pair of the thunder lizards but in fact the number was three as Jackson also explained. I feel this is a good indicator about the film Jackson is making. The original Kong fought a T-Rex and Jackson stayed true to that but in this remake he battles three.

And with the audience fully speaking his language, Jackson was ready to show his unfinished footage. Yet another falsehood being reported is that it consisted of some finished shots. Not true. Jackson was clear that nothing was finished and even the shots that looked finished would be perfected in the weeks between now and November when the final film was due.

As mentioned, the battle picks up in progress. Poor Ann Darrow is in Kong’s possession but obviously isn’t excited to be there. Less appealing still is being eaten by a dinosaur. Several times it appears that Ann’s time on earth is over but Kong and his opposable thumbs always manage to just snatch her from the literal jaws of death. The confrontation is Darwinism in action with ‘extinct’ dinosaurs fighting a mammalian life form that is much more intelligent, has full use of all its limbs and fights with passions greater than the simple drive for food.

Fighting (meaning Kong smashing dino heads and avoiding big, big teeth) moves to a series of ledges and rock slopes that drop into a canyon abyss. Kong actually carries Ann in his foot while he is busy using his front hands to cling and escape while one of the T-Rex eating machines slides helplessly down a slope on its back, flailing its tiny little dino arms. If I recall, another of the beasts, or maybe a pair of them have already been funneled into the crevice, falling helplessly into a thick series of vines that hold them somewhat helpless. Kong is just about to win the day when our final dino lunges with his big mouth and grabs Kong’s ankle just above where he carries Ann.

One of the brilliant aspects of the footage is the double and triple jeopardy Ann is always in during the battle. She could fall to her death at any instant and often almost does but luck, Kong and even the dinos prevent that. She is also in great danger of being eaten at any moment. Kong must battle hungry mouths while at the same time manage the decent of Ann and himself. He is a swashbuckling adventuring hero trying to beat the badies and not drop the all-important jewel.

Anyway, the ankle-biter drags Kong and Ann down into the vine network of the crevice which brings them into danger from the other hungry and dangling animals. Kong enjoys bashing a skull or two with his gorilla fist but finds that bashing reptile skulls against rock walls is a better strategy. Kong’s fall jars the disadvantaged dinos loose from their vine traps and single-minded and hungry, they pursue dinner while descending rather helplessly. Being a heavily muscled reptile with no arms to speak of can suck and obviously leads to extinction. Ann, at one point (and that means footage of Watts screaming while being held by cartoons a lot of the time) actually dangles from the teeth of a T-Rex which can’t quite bite her. Kong manages to grab her away but she is deposited on the head of a different reptile while he needs every arm and hand to save his own hide from murderous teeth – all the while the lot of them falling through vines. Ann is something like a dog-treat that sits on the nose of a beast until the master gives the okay to eat it.

The fall, broken by vines, eventually ends and they arrive at the bottom of the long crevice and with a dino arresting her fall, Ann is on the ground and able to run. Behind her the land shark she rode in on stirs itself, rights itself and prepares to run down the tasty morsel. Kong is further up in the vines bashing skulls leaving helpless Ann to arrange her own escape and if things go well, she might lose both the reptiles and the monkey.

The lead T-Rex is clearly going to be able to out run her and gives a bit of a triumphant bellow as if to say, “I will eat you now, my little blonde elusive snack.” Kong drops in suddenly with a quick chest thump and a dissenting gorilla scream, letting the dino know that nobody will be eating his blonde prize today.

Ann, trapped in the middle is now forced to choose to try and run or to seek the shelter of Kong. In a significant emotional moment that I suspect Howard Shore will have a field day with, Ann shuffles over to the great ape, now willingly submitting herself to his protection. This is a big emotional moment for her and it is the real reason for the battle. Sure she is afraid of Kong, but he is by far the best chance she has for survival and she goes to him willingly. For a moment the T-Rex looks as though he might give up but of course he is more hungry than intelligent and a bit pissed off as well and so the battle resumes, perhaps with another T-Rex dropping in but some details are foggy for me.

The climax of the confrontation, which doesn’t take so long now that Kong has all his limbs on the ground, features a the gorilla pulling the mouth of the dinosaur apart. The action is a feat of great strength considering the biting power of T-Rex but Kong goes for a tongue grab, ripping the vulnerable flesh. Despite its cartoon look, this action still earned an audible reaction (not the first) from the audience. Part disgust, part awe, part humor and part coolness, the moment quickly passes when Kong resumes pulling the jaws of the maimed animal apart until it expires. He then shows some personality by playing with the hinged jaw he has just broken, drawing a laugh from the crowd and finally, he beats his chest in triumph.

Whew. I believe we can turn of the spoiler alert now.

How good was this blend of cartoon, live action and something resembling finished footage? It was by far the best thing I saw all day in a big promotional rush from Hollywood. Yes I approach the material with a bias but the way this fight was arranged packed it full of drama, character, coolness and storytelling. It was just superb stuff. It is uniquely its own but I am reminded of the 20 minute sequence in “Fellowship” where the company of nine is fleeing the Mines of Moria. The action isn’t as chaotic as Orc fighting but the waves of drama, constantly raising the jeopardy of the protagonists, functions very much like that portion of Jackson’s film.

This is all the more remarkable because of how unfinished this footage is. While I am no expert, in my five years of Comic-Con and other conventions and attending a lot of screening panels, nothing I have seen was even close to being this raw. Nobody I have seen has dared to pull out such a work-in-progress and share it. It definitely carried emotional impact and left the viewer with a remarkable feeling of being on the edge of the chair. If finished with the same quality Jackson’s Weta crew is capable of, this flick will indeed be the 800 pound gorilla at awards season. I don’t presume that I can speak for the performances or best picture quality of the movie but in a summer of high-concept action (War of the Worlds, Batman Returns, Revenge of the Sith) this monkey-flick will be a serious contender for technical awards; not because a dinosaur fighting a giant gorilla will look believable but because the fight will be so compelling and emotionally satisfying. The little things make all the difference and give an action sequence soul. This has it already. It would be fun to see Jack Black or Andy Serkis beat his chest in triumph too.

One highlight of the Black/Watts/Brody Q&A which resumed after the footage, was Brody and Watts beating out a tribal rhythm while Black sang in his unique style about how strong is King Kong.

Another highlight was Adrien Brody being funny but firm when he was called John Brody.

“John Brody was in Jaws. I am Adrien Brody, Adrien” he said before storming off stage in mock anger. The same actor who won an Academy Award for Best Actor in “The Pianist” and tongue kissed presenter Halle Berry when accepting it, wouldn’t leave the stage until he delivered his message to fans. I have the thing recorded on audio (yea, I made you read all this way before telling that) and hopefully Xoanon and the gang will be able to get that posted before too long. But, if I may paraphrase, he said that he is looking forward to this film as much as fans are. He was seeing the footage along with us for the first time and it was incredible to him that he will be in this film, running around forever. I believe he meant ‘forever’ in historic context and not that he runs excessively in the movie. For this actor to say those things without prompting, and in fact after his promotional responsibilities were finished tells me that like those working on “The Lord of the Rings,” he knows he has been part of something special.

On another note, I was fortunate enough to have a brief chat with Richard Taylor who called KiKn “our lifeline.” He was on the floor of the exhibitor’s hall for several days and I am absolutely floored that Universal didn’t find a way for him to be part of the Kong presentation or have a separate Weta presentation in Hall H on Saturday. I have long declared that Taylor is a top-flight hero of mine for the job he does, the way he and others built up Weta, the gracious way he consistently treats fans and for his passionate and entertaining public speaking. The man is both a gem and a genius and he is able to communicate with audiences, even big ones, beautifully. I hope Universal realizes what a treasure they have and perhaps they will use him to promote “Son of Kong” in 2007. (Kidding!) Those with questions about the footage can feel free to contact me via email.