King Kong

Pros: Wonderful effects. Cast. Surprisingly touching movie.

Cons: A little longer than it needed to be. A few slow scenes.

The Bottom Line: King Kong was a very good movie that I ended up liking much more than I originally thought I would.

Review: In 2005, several remakes of older movies were released. Some were much better than others. Ever since I heard that Peter Jackson was planning to make a new version of King Kong I was interested in seeing the movie even though I never saw ...

Pros: Three hours of movie magic.

Cons: Length cuts down on replayability.

The Bottom Line: King Kong rules.

Review: The keyword these days in Hollywood seems to be remakes. More and more classic films, it seems, are being given a makeover, some successfully, some not. The latest (and perhaps greatest) of the lot is King Kong. One wonders in many cases if ...

Pros: Direction. Plot.

Cons: Almost collapses under all its goodness.

The Bottom Line: documents a return to form.

Review: After the Lord of the Rings series, everyone knew director Peter Jackson was going places. He announced he'd be directing a remake on King Kong, and suddenly everyone's like, "Yo dawg, dat LOTR director, he's gonna do this King Kong movie, and iss ...

Pros: Kong. Kong versus T-Rex. Watts, Black, and Brody. What a spectacle.

Cons: The first hour drags. Obvious blue screens.

The Bottom Line: You can't have a much better time at the movies.

Review: As the follow-up to his epic Lord of the Rings Trilogy, director Peter Jackson chose one of the few stories that might be able to rival Tolkien's work in scope, a King Kong remake bigger and badder than either of its predecessors. The ...

Pros: Jackson's Direction, Script, Special FX, Score, Look, Style, & Cast notably Watts & King Kong!

Cons: None.

The Bottom Line: Peter Jackson's Remake/Homage of King Kong is An Amazing Masterpiece/Tribute to the Original Film led by Fantastic Performances of Kong & Naomi Watts.

Review: In 1933, a movie that pushed the limits of special effects, action, and entertainment called King Kong about a giant ape who befriends a young woman only to be captured and terrorize New York City. Since its release, King Kong has become ...

Pros: Lots of action. Lots of great special effects and a great story to boot.

Cons: None that I could see.

The Bottom Line: One Kong to find them......or her.

Review: And that it does. This movie is so full of action that it feels like riding a roller coaster about 150 times. The moment they land on Skull Island it's time to fasten your seat belts. It's 1930's depression in New York City and everyone is trying ...

Pros: Everything.

Cons: Not for the short attention spanned.

The Bottom Line: A true modern classic in the fullest sense of the word.  A monster epic about an epic monster.

Review: King Kong (2005) Directed by Peter Jackson"And lo, the beast looked upon the face of beauty, and beauty stayed his hand. And from that day forward, he was as one dead." Carl DenhamPeter Jackson is a man of vision, a man with ...

Pros: Jack Black's shockingly brilliant performance. The amazing effects.

Cons: There really aren't any.

The Bottom Line: It's simply one of the most amazing things you will ever see.

Review: The title of this review refers , yes , to this weighty, powerful, and completely soul-eclipsing blockbuster film’s length. ( Significantly over three hours.) But not only does Mr. Jackson and crew so mesmerize you from beginning to end with their ...

Pros: Dynamic presentation with first-rate technical effects.

Cons: The insect scene is probably beyond the Pale.

The Bottom Line: This is the rare remake that outdoes the original by a considerable margin. Not just the special effects, but also the psychosexual tension make it so.

Review: It’s almost axiomatic that in films, a remake is not as good as the original. This of course doesn’t hold where the original is from the silent era … the newer “Ben Hur” being better than the older, the newer “Ten ...

Pros: The entire third act; the ending; Evan Parke and Thomas Kretschmann

Cons: Sun appears to come up on the Jersey side of New York

The Bottom Line: This is the best monster movie of the decade and most likely the best film of 2005.

Review: There are really three equal protagonists in "King Kong." Carl Denham (Jack Black) is an egomaniac to the point of fanaticism. This is what makes it possible for him to meet the second protagonist, Kong (Andy Serkis). Indeed, this scene is one of ...