King Kong is a chick flick

December 19, 2005

Saw the new King Kong film this weekend, and while it wasn’t bad it really wasn’t that great either. Perhaps the biggest surprise to me was that it’s actually a chick flick.

You wouldn’t know that from the marketing–they’re selling up the action/adventure aspects. I mean there’s a violent video game that came out as part of the marketing, by definition that’s aimed at young males.

But the movie itself turns out to be a love story–the Ann Darrow character feels a strong empathy for the lonely giant ape. [WARNING: Spoiler ahead] And the final death scene is very reminiscent of the death scene in Titanic, another big special-effects-filled chick flick.

I probably won’t be seeing this movie again, it’s not that kind of movie to me. But the love story inside the movie is just the kind that might appeal to that Titanic contingent. The ones who went to see that movie again and again despite its running length, and drove it to being the biggest box office winner of all time. King Kong needs those kinds of fans because it is a $200 million movie so they need to make a lot of money to earn that back.