King Kong (2005)

X An excellent must-see
O Good video rental
O Mediocre
O Rent something else

Review by Jason Pyles / August 4, 2007

Peter Jackson’s “King Kong” remake is a masterpiece and nearly perfect. You must see this film. In fact, if I ever met a person who had never seen a movie, and I could only show her three movies, “King Kong” would be one of them.

To be objective, the two most common complaints about this movie are that it’s too long, about three hours long. The other complaint is that it takes too long (an hour) to get to Kong. But I suspect that Jackson was employing the anticipation technique that we experience with “Jaws” (1975). (The next time you watch that shark classic, note how long it takes to actually see the shark.)

These two complaints are legitimate, but only after your first viewing. Your first viewing of “King Kong” will fill you with wonder. When I first saw this in the theater, I had tears in my eyes from pure cinematic awe.

You already know the story from the 1933 original (If you don’t know the story and would rather learn it from the movie, skip this paragraph.): A filmmaker takes his crew to film the mysterious location of Skull Island. The travelers encounter an inhospitable place filled with unfriendly natives, prehistoric monsters and a giant gorilla called “Kong.” Kong claims Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) and becomes infatuated with her. Writer Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody) attempts to save her from the gorilla and Carl Denham (Jack Black) wants to capture Kong to take him back to New York to be a moneymaking spectacle.

This edited version removes the language and brief references to a burlesque theater. But the intense creature violence and harrowing situations remain in the edited version. “King Kong” really isn’t a movie for children, despite the monkey. For kids, rent “Curious George” (2006), instead.

But for a spectacular, action-adventure, creature-feature, “King Kong” is exceptional.

Directed by Peter Jackson
Naomi Watts / Adrien Brody / Jack Black
187 min. Adventure / Action
(Original MPAA rating: PG-13)
Edited version age recommendation: 13 and up

DVD release date: November 14, 2006
Copyright 2007.
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