King Kong

"Excuse me, but if your people built this wall to keep King Kong out, well then why build a door large enough for him to get through? For that matter, Kong's a giant monkey, why can't he just climb over the wall? And come on, I mean there can't just be one Kong, there's got to be others." -Robot Chicken

In short, this movie was fucking awesome if you like any of the following: spectacular and suspenseful action scenes, wide arrays of prehistoric and/or grotesquely overgrown creatures, great dialogue and convincing acting performances, a meaningful plot, and stunning but not overdone special effects. Sound appealing? If so, then get to the theater, like tonight, and see King Kong. You won't be disappointed, but be sure to buy some snacks because it's over three hours of all these goodies.

You probably know the basics of the story. Set in the midst of the Great Depression in 1930's L.A., film producer Carl Denham (Jack Black) has just been informed that his current project is being cancelled. Having come into possession of a mysterious map that details an ancient and undiscovered island, Carl is desperate to film his movie, and to do so on this island. So, with the cops on his heels, he quickly signs a recently unemployed Vaudevillian actress, Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts), to be the leading female star of the movie, and off they sail along with handsome movie star Bruce Baxter (Kyle Chandler), and well-known playwright Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody) in search of this mythical place. After nearly crashing on the shore of the eerie island, they find that it is not as deserted as they had anticipated, and the natives aren't the friendliest lot. Ann is offered up to some fearsome beast, and Carl and Jack are left on the other side of a giant wall, listening to her screams but not knowing what she faces. Finally, the audience gets its first glimpse at Kong, and with him, a whole mess of other terrifying and ravenous creatures that provide a decent amount of hassle for both Kong and Ann's rescue party.

For once, this is a classic-film remake that was extremely well done; Peter Jackson has really proven that he can be trusted with behemoth projects that other directors would most likely massacre in misguided attempts to entertain audiences with short attention spans. Still, my attention didn't wander anywhere, but I betrayed my feminine nerves many times when I let out several girlish shrieks during some of the more tense scenes.

I absolutely loved the abundant creature action in this movie-—from giant carnivorous bugs, velociraptors, and huge man-eating bats, it was just one seriously bad thing after another for these people to face. Kong himself has to come to Ann's aid on numerous occasions, fighting off two—no, make that three T-Rex's all whilst maintaining a firm yet not suffocating grip on Ann to protect her from these perils. Ridiculous, yet fun, and extremely exciting to watch.

So yes, it is three hours long, and sure there are some drawn-out moments when Jack looks into Ann's eyes, and Ann looks into Kong's eyes, and Carl greedily rubs his hands together in anticipation of profit, but it really shouldn't be a surprise after the LOTR trilogy that Peter Jackson likes the slow-mo effect. If you can't sit through three hours, then wait for the DVD and watch it at home—but do watch it, because it is a fantastic movie. I couldn't have been happier with it.