King Kong (2005

[Zulema Estabrooks]

KingKong is a giant ape monster who appeared in the 2005 Universal Pictures film King Kong. Peter Jackson's film marked the second live-action remake of the 1933 classic, and unlike the 1976 remake, retained the 1933 setting and many of the same characters from the original.

The last of a species of huge primates called Megaprimatus kong which inhabited the isolated Skull Island, Kong was the object of worship by the derelict human tribe still inhabiting the ruins of a once-great civilization on the island. Kong lived a solitary and lonely existence on the island, faced with a multitude of other colossal prehistoric beasts who were far more violent than him. When a film crew arrived on Skull Island in 1933 aboard the tramp steamer, the Venture, the natives captured the crew's leading lady Ann Darrow and offered her as a sacrifice to Kong. Kong accepted the offering and carried Ann off with him into the jungle, with screenwriter Jack Driscoll and the rest of the crew in pursuit. Initially frightened of the huge ape, Ann took an opportunity to escape only to be menaced by a Foetodon and then a family of Vastatosaurus rex. Kong came to Ann's rescue, fighting a grueling battle against the three V-Rexes all while trying to keep Ann away from their maws. Kong succeeded in killing all three, and Ann finally came to sympathize with Kong and allowed him to take her to his mountain lair. There he was attacked by a flock of Terapusmordax, giving Jack the opportunity to rescue and escape with Ann back to the native village. Director Carl Denham had no intention of leaving empty-handed and allowed Kong to breach the village, after which he was subdued by smoke bombs. Denham brought Kong back to New York City as the centerpiece for a Broadway show, but the ape broke free of his chrome steel restraints in a fiery rage, then tore his way through Manhattan before Ann came to him in Central Park and calmed him down. When the Army arrived to kill him, Kong took Ann to the top of the Empire State Building where he was confronted by several biplanes. Before making his final stand, Kong set Ann down and fought the planes with all of his might. The machine gun fire was too much for Kong, who succumbed to his wounds and plummeted off the skyscraper, much to Ann's sorrow.

Despite his species canonically being more closely related to Gigantopithecus than gorillas, Kong resembles an adult silverback western lowland gorilla with considerable scarring all over his body and face. Most of his body is covered in thick, matted black hair. Of all Kong's interpretations, the 2005 incarnation is the only one to anatomically look and behave like a true gorilla, with most other incarnations opting to give him a far more humanoid design. However, there were specific design elements implemented to help distinguish official movie merchandise from other generic gorilla designs, like the crescent-shaped scar on his right eye, and the tooth jutting out from his lower jaw.

Naturally growing to heights of 18 to 25 feet, the Megaprimatus species had an anomalous relationship with Skull Island. They were not native to the island, although they had arrived no earlier than a few thousand years before their discovery. It is theorized that they originated in mainland Asia, and that they may have been brought alongside the original civilization of Skull Island before their disappearance. The Ape-shaped monoliths that the people left behind suggest that Megaprimatus may have been revered or worshiped by the people. After reaching the island, Megaprimatus experienced an exponential increase in size. Whether this growth was a natural response to the hazardous environments of Skull Island, or done through selective breeding is unknown. The Ape-shaped effigies and monoliths left behind by this original civilization suggest a reverence to the Megaprimatus, or possibly a symbiosis with them.

Kong himself, as a part of being alone, was forced to take up some behaviors that are assumed to be atypical of his species.[6] Megaprimatus likely lived in small familial colonies in the jungle, where their numbers could provide some security. Kong, on the other hand lived in a mountain hollow and made trips to the jungle to hunt. Megaprimatus were a very social species, emphasized by a mastery of body language and vocalizations, ranging from grunts and glances to roars and chest pounding. It is theorized that parent Megaprimatus kept their vulnerable young close while teaching them to find food. Adult Megaprimatus, like Kong, were crafty fighters capable of using their dexterous grasping hands and superior brainpower to out-think and defeat opponents.

Scarring found on Kong and the bones of his forebears reveal a consistent clash with the Vastatosaurus rex. V-rexes viewed young Megaprimatus as a food source, and would attempt to steal them away, leading to horrible battles with the adults. Both Megaprimatus and V-rex would gladly kill the young of the other to reduce future competition for resources. Younger V-rexes more often clashed with the apes due to their eagerness to claim territory and undeveloped ability to size up opponents. Megaprimatus could use whatever lay at hand as a weapon, but most battles lead to one party backing off when the odds were out of their favor. However, if the stakes of the battle were high enough they could readily become fights to the death.

It is not suspected that the Megaprimatus were ever numerous, but over the centuries, V-rexes, Venatosauruses, sickness, and injury each took their share of the population. These risks, compounded with the primate habit of seldom breeding and taking years to reach self-sufficiency kept them from fully repopulating, leading to their eventual decline. It is theorized that Kong's odd relationship with the island's human population was an attempt to fill his social needs. However, the humans never managed to replace the family Kong had lost.

In 1933, Kong was given the actress Ann Darrow as a sacrifice. After touching her face with his massive hand, he grabbed her and took her into the jungle to the rock ledge where he had killed the other sacrifices. Ann, however, stabbed his hand with spikes on her ceremonial necklace and made a run for it. Kong quickly recaptured her and brought her to an ancient ruin where, when she appeared to him to be sleeping, he sat down to eat some bamboo. On discovering that she had escaped, Kong made his way behind the ruins and slammed his great forearms down to trap her and he moved all around to prevent her from leaving. However, much to Kong's confusion and eventual amusement, she began to do flips and tricks. However, when she needed rest, Kong simply knocked her down with riotous laughter. Despite this, she soon pushed his finger away, and refused to allow him to push her around anymore. Kong became enraged and hurled rocks and trees off the cliff in a frenzy of anger and confusion before being struck across the neck by a falling rock, which knocked the wind out of him and forced him to calm down. After this he gave Ann one final look before retreating and leaving her alone.

Kong then spied Benjamin Hayes in an ancient tunnel, charged at the man after he shot at him, and picked him up before throwing him against the far rock wall of the pit beneath them. He then began shaking the log the other sailors were crossing through their gunfire. On hearing Ann screaming in the distance, Kong ran to her aid and grabbed her away from a male Vastatosaurus rex. Kong swung down and kicked the bull in the face before grabbing his neck to keep her from getting to Darrow. Just then, his son wandered out of the jungle swallowing the last of the Foetodon it had slain before seeing Darrow relatively unguarded in the ape's free hand. It ran toward her, and Kong moved her out of the way to allow the beast to bite down on his forearm before using the grip to throw it off balance. The two then backed Kong up to a ledge, from the top of which the matriarch of the group attacked. The four creatures tussled for a bit before Kong smashed the youngest V-rex's head with a rock, killing it before its mother bit Kong's bicep, and he used this as leverage to flip her over his shoulder and off a cliff. Kong kicked her over the edge and bit the neck of the bull before tackling it into the crevice. He tried to hold on to the edge, but the bull's powerful jaws grabbed his ankle and dragged him down where the monsters became entangled in vines. Kong fought the bull while higher up, the female tried to maneuver itself to bite Ann, but Kong pummeled the beast and killed him as Ann fell on top of the matriarch's head. They fell to the valley floor and it tried to chase her down but Kong came to defend her. They roared at one another before she charged at him. He bit off the dinosaur's tongue before wrestling her to the ground and climbing on her back. He tried to stand up but his weight was too great, and he pummeled her head until he could pry its jaws apart, breaking them and crushing her skull. He celebrated his victory with a roar of triumph.

Kong looked at Ann and began to walk away, but she called to him and began following. Kong then flipped her up onto his shoulder and finished the trek to his mountain lair. Kong set her down at the summit and sat on a ledge overlooking the sunset looking forlorn. Ann tried to amuse him with juggling tricks but with no effect. On noticing the beauty of the sunset, Ann tried to convey the feeling to him with a simple sign of a hand over her heart. Kong then put down his hand and allowed her to fall asleep there. In the night, Jack Driscoll arrived to take Ann away, but before he could get her out of the ape's hand he awoke. In a furious frenzy, Kong began to attack the man, but was distracted by a swarm of Terapusmordax. Kong slapped and tore at the beasts as they bit at him, but they distracted him long enough for the humans to escape down the cliffside on a vine. Kong found them and began reeling them back in, but they grabbed a Terapusmordax and dropped into the river below. With a roar of anger and hurt, Kong stormed off from his lair and gave chase. Kong, not knowing he was headed into a trap, chased them all the way back to the village, where he slammed on the gargantuan gate to try to get to Ann, who had passed to the other side. When he finally broke through, he was brought to the ground with grappling hooks before a bottle of chloroform gas was broken under his face, and a net was dropped on him. Still fighting to get to Ann, he was able to break free and run after her and the sailors to the shore via a tunnel. A sailor shot at him from a ledge, and Kong picked him up and bit off his head before throwing him aside and wading into the water, where the sailor Jimmy shot at him again, causing Kong to strike the boat and destroy it. However, after seeing this, Captain Englehorn fired a harpoon at Kong that struck him in the leg. Carl Denham then struck Kong's face with another chloroform bottle, which finally brought him down. Before losing consciousness, he reached out to Ann before finally closing his eyes. As Denham stood over Kong's unconscious body, he vowed he would bring Kong home as "the Eighth Wonder of the World".

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