King Kong (Jackson, 2005) (1 disc)

On discovering that Jackson's remake of the 1933 classic was over twice as long you had to wonder what on earth he was playing at. The original is a lean 100 minutes, ... more >

On discovering that Jackson's remake of the 1933 classic was over twice as long you had to wonder what on earth he was playing at. The original is a lean 100 minutes, playing its pulp story out with tremendous pace. The remake almost doubles that length and while it retains the basic structure, it approaches it in much more detail becoming in effect a three act miniseries - The Journey, Skull Island and Tragedy in New York - whose generous running time is perfectly suited to DVD. This is no ordinary mini-series however, rather a genuinely spectacular adventure.
Not since Indiana Jones first donned his fedora has a film embraced the spirit of adventure with such fever. The action sequences on the island are a jaw-dropping delight to behold, the most memorable of which include Kong sheltering his newly-acquired charge from three ferocious dinosaurs in a tense 10 minute death match, and the skin-crawling, icky menace of the spider pit, a scene notoriously cut from the original version.
Andy Serkis and the animators have built on their splendid rendering of Gollum with a terrific incarnation of Kong, looking and behaving as convincingly as his gigantic stature could allow. A standout scene has Anne charming Kong with circus tricks, we watch him as you might do in a zoo, delighted at his reactions. Their relationship, complete with his abrupt mood swings and strange animal morality is the cornerstone of the film and key to its success.
The tragic ending is at least as heartbreaking as in the original, played spectacularly against a perfectly realised 1930s New York skyline. It's impossible not to feel for this big dumb gorilla who fell in love with the wrong girl. < less

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Cast

Adrien Brody, Jack Black, Naomi Watts

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