King Kong Reviews

It clocks in at over three hours, but Peter Jackson's remake of the 1933 classic is gripping nonetheless.

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As it is a remake, it doesn't have the shock Lord Of The Rings possessed upon its release, but this is a beautiful beast of a B-movie, thrilling and touching.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

The movie is a good cautionary example of what happens when its maker is too close to the material, who can't see the forest for the trees, the story for the ape.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4

Fails to match the simple, handmade artistry of the original

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With great computer imagery, a fun story, amazing action, and wonderful human drama, it's a very good remake. But Kong 1933 is still King, baby.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

Peter Jackson's remake of the 1933 classic is a loving homage that recreates and updates many of the familiar sequences... Unfortunately, the recreation leaves one wondering what, exactly, the point of the film is, other than indulging the director...

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Every now and then, an undertaking like Kong comes around, and it underscores the truly extraordinary accomplishment of directing a film.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5

It takes a while to get everybody to Skull Island, about 70 minutes, but it's time extremely well-spent.

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Kong is not without its flaws, but sometimes you just have to throw your hands up in the air, wave them like you just don't care, scream at the top of your lungs and just go with the rollercoaster ride, that's what this film is.

Full Review | Original Score: A

Overlong by half, hedonistically animated and decadently self-indulgent King Kong is beastly to be sure, but there is little beauty here.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/10

A bit more time in the editing room could've lifted it into great blockbuster territory. instead we've got a sporadically entertaining escapade that never captures our hearts like it so desperately wants too.

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Kong is a showy, state-of-the-art popcorn movie, faithful to the spirit of the 1933 original but generously adrenalized with the best effects money can buy.

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I wish Jackson would shake off his addiction to gigantism, his apparent need to punch everything up three times as much as it needs to be.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

Mr. Jackson not only improves on the original, he somehow seems to create the film that King Kong was always meant to be.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4

funny, frightening, romantic, nostalgic, moving and grimly fatalistic, it races along, like its central character, with a speed and grace that utterly belies its great size.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5

A phenomenal popcorn movie that eclipses the original in several respects, but inevitably owes a huge debt to the powerful imagery and innovation of the 1930s landmark.

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This lackluster cure for insomnia might have been more palatable without so many distracting digressions and pared down to a manageable ninety minutes or so. Zzzz... Zzzz... Zzzz...

Full Review | Original Score: 1/4

Despite admirable chest thumping and Watts' wonderfully enhanced scream, there is still only one true king.

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Naomi Watts distinguishes herself in a luminous, star-making turn as Ann -- warm, funny, charismatic, and far more than you'd expect from the damsel in distress.

| Original Score: 3/4

Jackson puts his passion for epics to good use and creates film magic

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5