New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

Over time I came to terms with the disappointment of King Kong and saw that I should be happy that Jackson gave me Lord of the Rings. It was simply a case of right place, right time. Perhaps I expected too much of him, but he just wasn't the guy I though he was. Even his appearance was telling. The former hobbit-resembling man now was a slimmed down, contact-wearing director with an accent - never seen that before. Just like Harvey Dent said – man this article is just a fanboy quote fest – "Either you die the hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." Ah, foreshadowing.

Watching the recently released trailer for The Lovely Bones, Jackson's latest directorial effort, corroborated that sentiment. Just because you can create a giant ship crashing out of an equally giant glass bottle doesn't mean you should - having not read the book I'll concede that maybe that's vital to the plot, but I have my doubts. Also, as a side note, apparently in movieland now any guy with neatly combed blonde hair, a mustache, wire-rimmed glasses, and pasty skin that wears flannel is automatically a child murderer. Come on, PJ, I thought you were better than that.

Going into District 9 I had all but put my angst over Jackson to rest. Since he was just a name above the title he had plausible deniability for any shenanigans that took place onscreen. Plus, some of the wounds were too painful to dredge up. But walking out of the theater after witnessing Blomkamp turn several genres on their head, everything had changed. I needed to know more.

It's hard to know how much input or aid Jackson gave to this project. Maybe he was just the most recognizable name, since District 9 has literally none. The fantastic star Sharlto Copley doesn't have a single film credit, other than Blomkamp's original short, on his résumé. But the idea the Jackson had a hand in this was too tantalizing not to dig a little deeper. At the risk of setting myself up for another letdown, I began searching for proof that Jackson had not gone over to the dark side.

Here is an excerpt from an interview with director Blomkamp on Jackson's involvement:

"His main thing that he kept saying to me was make the film you want to make, and he really pushed that. He was like, let us be the producers, let us worry about cash; you go out and make the film you want to make. So he didn't really have many battles to fight because contractually I think he had control over the film anyway, but having said that I think he was aware to make sure that decisions that were being made that were creative decisions were mine so that the film was me."

I am consumed with pride. This alone tells me that Lord of the Rings was not just a product of a perfect climate and few happy accidents. After showing the movie-going and movie-making world how to make a big-budget film with a soul, Jackson has once again led by example. Maybe I'm being overly optimistic, but after displaying no filter in King Kong, D9 at least suggests that he has seen the errors of his ways. And after all, "The only way we can achieve success is through failure." I don't know if a film icon ever said that but just to keep the theme going let's say it was Robin Hood. The risk Jackson took in instilling such confidence in Blomkamp is enough for me to believe that he is different from the rest. Can you imagine he-who-shall-not-named being this kind of mentor? Heck no.

So at least until The Hobbit comes out, I can rest assured that my younger self was not as duped as I previously believed. For now I can revel in the fact that Jackson found redemption through restraint. Atta boy, PJ!

Continued:       1       2       3