If so, you'll be the first to know that.

Yep, the action is incredible. And if you skip the rest of the movie it's a B+.

There ya go - straight from the horse's mouth!

Bradley come on, you like Aeon Flux and I'm the one who's non-sensible?

And I still don't see how this is bad reviews after the hype is gone? An A from Cotton and an A+ from JMart. Damn, Kong must be mad at those reviews.

I just watched this again on DVD, and realized I hadn't written a full review for it, so here goes:

This is a film that is so visually stunning that it blows everything else away. As of right now, this is the benchmark for special effects in movies. It's too bad that the rest of the film couldn't quite keep up with the fantastic special effects, for this would have be an utter masterpiece, on par with the Lord of the Rings trilogy. For now, it'll have to settle for being merely great. The overlong running time, uneven pacing, and unnecessary subplots are a few of the minor complaints I have with it, and they are quite minor - they do not detract heavily from the overall quality. Still, I can't help but think that this movie was slightly overrated.

I'll start with my complaints of the film. My biggest gripe is the running time. With Lord of the Rings, the three hours flew by - so much so that it almost felt too short (hence why I prefer the extended editions). But here, the three hours seems like a luxury that Jackson is granted simply because he is recognized now as a great director. The first two acts could have easily been compressed into 90 minutes or less, rather than being over 2 hours. The exposition, while very well-done, could have been much shorter, as some of the character development wasn't needed or utilized later in the film. Many of the extraneous scenes could have been cut (pretty much anything with Jimmy, the most annoying character in the film) and some of the action, albeit quite impressive, wasn't necessary. At least one of the 'big' effects scenes in the middle wouldn't have been missed, maybe the brontosaurus stampede (although it's very thrilling) or the spider pit sequence (though I like the way the music is dampened in this scene - quite effective). It just seemed like Jackson was showing off his effects company for parts of it. He also used slow motion far too much. The only time I felt it was really effective was at the end, and that's due to the gravity of the situation. And the natives were wasted.

Still, this pales in comparison to the strengths of the film. As I said before, the visual effects are top-notch, unmatched by anything I've seen before or since. The action scenes are incredibly well-choreographed - especially the Kong vs. T-Rexes fight - but don't become too boring or incomprehensible. The entire production design is fantastic, though I wonder how much is location shooting and how much is CGI. Some of the shots on Skull Island are incredibly beautiful. The acting is great, surprisingly, though I'm still not convinced that Jack Black fits well. Adrien Brody is a suitable hero, but it is Naomi Watts who stands out the best, interesting since she has very few lines in the last two acts. Her facial expressions convey her emotions expertly, though. The supporting characters are mostly well-acted, with the exception of the annoying kid Jimmy and useless cook Lumpy. And Kong is simply fantastic. Probably the best CGI character in any film ever. The plot has a fair few holes, but altogether it is quite involving and emotional. At some times, though, it felt like there were two plots trying to be told: the 'Lost World'-type one with all the fantastic creatures, and the Kong-Ann love story. But it was smoothed out at the end. Speaking of which, the final act is simply incredible. Such a fantastic sequence. Completely makes up for the slightly disappointing first two hours.

So, overall, this was a flawed masterpiece, lowering its quality to merely great. Though the film as a whole is very well-made, there are some moments when the pace drags, and the story falters. It seems like Jackson really only put his full effort into the New York act; the first two don't have the quality or emotion that the finale does. It's too bad, this could have been on par with his Lord of the Rings masterpieces. As it is, this is a great action, fantastic adventure, and decent drama film.

I love King Kong.

And I didn't expect to, which was a plus.

I think it's the best film of 2005: a huge action blockbuster that also probably moved me just as much as any drama did last year.

Love it. As a matter of fact, it's one of few movies where I will stop and watch if I see it on TV while channel-surfing. The action is great, the effects are dazzling, the performances (that of Naomi Watts in particular) are superb, and it never loses my interest. It's basically three hours of everything I could ever ask from a movie, not to mention an excellent follow-up to LOTR for Peter Jackson. A

I like long deep films but imo this needed to be 30 mins shorter.


It went from being deep and thoughtful and fun to being way to long very quickly.

I still think Jackson made this too well corny.

The thing that really saves this movie is the action/fx.

Replace Black and Brody, cut the first hour to ten minutes and leave Jamie Bell and the black captain completely out.

It's almost impossible for me watching the action-free parts of this movie.

Yeah, the heart of darkness thing wasn't terribly original and much of it could have been cut out, but I think the length of the film is kind of a benefit. It's big, it's kind of like eating too much ice cream, but the great parts are really savored more through it.

This movie is so amazing in so many ways.

The only bad part? The slow motion scene when he typed "Skull Island"... UGH

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't eating too much ice cream give one a stomach ache and make him or her hate the ice cream they gorged on?

It certainly wouldn't make one's palette more appreciative of the richness of the fudge you finished halfway through the bowl.

The whole film was a big boring blur of badness.

No, it's kind of like marriage. First, you're all "Wow, this is great!" Later, it's like "OWWW! What the hell was I thinking?" Much later, it's "You know, that was fun!"

Hah!

But you probably wouldn't do it again.

Not quite, it's just a much better experience in the theater. It's a lumbering amusement park ride with a great emotional nucleus with the two leads. Those two parts are so good and PJ's direction is so obsessively loving that everything else doesn't really matter, even if it's far from perfect.

I think PJ's the new Erich Von Stroheim or Francis Ford Coppola. I just hope he doesn't squander his talent to insanity (like the latter) or lose power/cash to do what he loves (the former).

Coppla's only great films had a Carleone as the main character.

Too bad Fellowship was better than the Two Towers.

Haven't seen em.

Like the one night with you and your friends at the gas station? I have pictures.

This is probably the only time in the history of the world that I agree with DIB. Fellowship pwns.