Dissection of an Action Sequence

BEYOND MY CONTROL

I have to admit I’m not a fan of the dinosaur stampede scene in Peter Jackson’s KING KONG, it’s little more than a chase scene with too many dinosaurs, not a lot of reason behind it and no time for the audience to really take in what’s going on. However, the magnificent T-rex scene more than makes up for it.



In this scene, not only is it Kong’s first chance to prove his love for Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts), but Ann herself is forced to make a choice of survival: try her luck alone with the T-rex or put her trust in Kong (who at this point she considers the lesser of two evils) to protect her.

But the truly breath-taking moment in the sequence is the swinging vines. Along with the two T-rexes, Ann and Kong are entwined in the web of vines and swinging helplessly like pendulums while the snapping jaws of the dinosaurs swing closer and closer. This is pure cinematic tension at its best, because the fate of our heroes is completely beyond their control. It’s a case of inertia, and luck, and as an audience we have NO idea what will happen!