History Film / KingKong2005

* AdaptationalVillainy:
** Slightly more to the degree of TookALevelInJerkass, but, Carl Denham is a lot less of the noble and adventurous director/script-writer that appeared in the first movie. He's a failing PrimaDonnaDirector who literally has to skip town in the opening part of the movie in order to avoid having all he owns seized by his sponsors. There's also a fundamental shallowness to him; when he mourns the death of the first member of his film team (speared and bludgeoned to death by the natives) and then uses ''the exact same speech'' to mourn the second death (eaten by venatosaurs), well, it makes you wonder how much he genuinely gives a damn about ''either'' death (though notably, he's shown gulping down whisky both times).
** The villagers on Skull Island, while they did abduct Ann Darrow for their sacrifice to Kong, were otherwise just native islanders who were interrupted during their ceremony and yelled at them to leave their island. This film turns them into psychotic savages far more sadistic than any of the island’s wildlife who brutally murder some of Carl Denham’s film crew with no hesitation.

* AwesomeMcCoolName: The ''Vastatosaurus rex''. Literally translated, it means "Ravager Lizard King."

* ImprobableAimingSkills: When Jack is swarmed by giant bugs, Jimmy fires a Thompson submachine gun ''full-auto'' at him from only a few feet away and manages to hit nothing but bugs.

* ArtisticLicensePaleontology: Although excusable in earlier works as [[ScienceMarchesOn science marching on]], the dinosaurs and most other prehistoric lifeforms all emulate RuleOfCool, primarily as an artifact of the original movie.
** Explained in the documentary: the creatures on Skull Island are different from known dinosaurs because they have had 65 million years in which to evolve into their current forms. Evolution marches on.

* BittersweetEnding: Just like the [[Film/KingKong1933 original]], New York is saved from Kong's rampage, but he's just as much a victim, having been kidnapped from his home against his will. Plus, Ann has to bear the guilt that she's partially responsible for this.

** Ann Darrow is supposed to be in her 20s by most accounts, but Creator/NaomiWatts was actually 36 at the time of the film’s production.

** Ann Darrow is supposed to be in her 20s by most accounts, but (Creator/NaomiWatts) was actually 36 at the time of the film’s production.

* HairContrastDuo: Ann (blonde) and Kong (dark-furred).

* ClimbingClimax: [[Film/KingKong1933 As is tradition,]] Kong runs from the Army with Ann, [[KingKongClimb straight up to the top of the Empire State Building]], where he duels with biplanes and is killed.

** Kong himself, sort of; whereas the 1933 version was just a straight-up possessive, vicious monster, this KillerGorilla is given a lot more emphasis on his emotional state, emphasizing his loneliness and how he comes to view Ann as a friend or even a surrogate family member. Even during his rampage in New York, whereas the original Kong threw the "fake Ann" to her death, this one is shown tossing the women he mistakes for Ann in the street aside fairly gently. (Though the crunching sound they make when they fall indicates they're badly injured anyway, if not killed.)

* ClimbingClimax: [[Film/KingKong1933 As is tradition,]] Kong runs from the Army with Ann, straight up to the top of the Empire State Building, where he duels with biplanes and is killed.

* {{Fanservice}}: Ann spends most of the movie wearing just her nightgown, generously exposing her bare legs and feet.

* LosingAShoeInTheStruggle: Ann gets kidnapped as she was getting ready for bed. Consequently, her shoes get left behind, and she spends the entire time in the jungle barefoot. By all accounts, her feet should've been ripped to shreds by the rough terrain, especially in the jungle itself, long before Kong started carrying her from place to place, but she doesn't get so much as a thorn or a blister.

** The entire scene in the crevice is a reference to the script, but not the actual film, of the 1933 original: the script had it that not all of the rescue party immediately died after Kong threw the log they were trying to cross into the ravine, but were then attacked and devoured by a variety of monstrous animals at the bottom, most of them arthropods. Jackson tried to make sure that this part couldn't be cut out by solving the very reason it was cut in the first place: It slowed the story down. He fixed this by having more significant supporting characters die, and having Denham's camera destroyed to give his character a stronger reason for bringing Kong back to New York City. Meanwhile, the original lost "spider pit sequence" was recreated using period-appropriate technology and filming techniques and included it as a bonus feature on the DVD.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: While Jack has noble intentions when it came to rescuing Ann he indirectly caused many of the deaths of the Venture Crew and even more when he confronted Kong back in New York.

** Kong himself, naturally, but curiously, the ''Terapusmordax'' (giant, batlike rodents) are also shown to be this--they're first seen roosting in their cave and one of them ominously glares at Jack, but since he's not provoking them, none of them attack him. They only start attacking when Kong wakes up and roars furiously upon seeing Jack trying to take Ann, and in that case they most likely saw Kong as some sort of threat.

** At the theater, Kong notices Jack Driscoll, and stops his rampage and stares at him long enough for both of them to realize that Kong ''remembers'' Jack--and the last thing he saw Jack do was take his beloved Ann away from him. Cue epic Oh, Crap and subsequent UnstoppableRage.

* PiranhaProblem: A deleted scene shows the crew crossing a swamp and being attack by a Piranhadon (an oversized lungfish with teeth like a piranha).

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: The movie operates on RuleOfCool when it comes to the animals, but Kong is still hit with this when attacked by the airplanes. He is atop a skyscraper and can't hit any of the airplanes until they have already gotten close enough to riddle him with machine gun fire. While he does manage to destroy three of them, [[DeathOfAThousandCuts the injuries caused by the machine gun fire take their toll]] and he loses his grip on the building, falling to his death.

* FootFocus: Ann’s feet are bare for the majority of the movie. There are also several closeups of (Creator/NaomiWatts) bare feet that assist in building the tension of each scene.

* FootFocus: Ann’s feet are bare for the majority of the movie. There are also several closeups of (Creator/NaomiWatts)’s bare feet that assist in building the tension of each scene.

* FootFocus: Ann’s feet are bare for the majority of the movie. There are also several closeups of her bare feet that assist in building the tension of each scene.

** Englehorn is a not particularly pleasant human being, and has an unusual number of automatic weapons hidden around his ship. However, he's absolutely right to use excessive force on all things Skull Island while also attempting to get off said island as quickly as possible.

* AFatherToHisMen: A subtle example. Captain Englehorn is by no means a touchy-feely kind of guy, and the second time we see him, he's being a dick to Choy. However, he was pissed at Choy over a ''major'' safety issue (unsecured bulk chloroform). His crew, including Choy, address him as "Skipper," which is an affectionate term sailors won't use if they dislike their captain. During Kong's final rampage on the island, he's clearly fighting back a HeroicBSOD as he sees the ape slaughtering so many of his crew, and tries to kill Kong rather than simply row away.

* RealVehicleReveal: Ann gets out of her taxi and stares at an ocean liner, only for Denham to direct her attention to the ''Venture'', a smaller and much less impressive boat on the other side of the dock.