Now, we don't see movies in theaters much anymore, so my moviegoing standards have become quite high. I need stuff blowing up. I need butt-kicking. I need Oscar bait.
In sheer mass,
King Kong is a bargain. It's over three hours long and is beginning-to-end action. I can't imagine anyone walking out of it bored. There's just way too much going on.
Nearly everyone is perfectly cast. The moment Kyle Chandler appeared as vain, dumb movie star Bruce Baxter, I could only pine for the presence of Bruce Campbell (of the
Evil Dead movies). Watts is radiant and Brody nails the nerdy-yet-smoldering-quiet-guy thing.
I really could have done without the much-discussed bug sequence. It's way, way over the top and disturbing in a way that I haven't experienced in a long time. There was apparently a bug sequence shot for the original 1933 classic but it was scrapped.
Jackson does stamp his signature style on the film. There are parts that will remind viewers of the
Lord of the Rings films. Most of Kong was filmed in New Zealand, so comparisons are inevitable, but Jackson does a reasonably good job recreating New York City.
Universal Pictures, 2005. Directed by Peter Jackson. Starring Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody, and Kyle Chandler.
![[ Movies ]](/graphics/movies.jpg)
![[ Rating: 40_of_50_stars ]](/graphics/4.0_of_5.0_Stars.jpg){kind=small}