I would have given this a fourth star if not for the fact that it was just. so. long. It was well-paced, had a lot of good action, and it was cool, but at three hours plus there's just nothing that can be done to avoid it feeling really, really long. But on to the good stuff. To begin with, I think that Peter Jackson did an amazing job with updating this film. The effects were stunning, and the action really sucked me in—and I'm not one to be won over easily by effects and action sequences. The acting was mostly good, although I'm not sure Jack Black was really the right person to cast as the director—he came off as just a little too hammy, in my opinion. What surprised me, though, was that the best acting in the movie came from Kong, himself. I would never have suspected that a computer-generated gorilla would be capable of such a nuanced, intriguing, moving performance, but that is exactly how I would describe it. I would definitely recommend this one, with the small caveat that it's probably not right for anyone with a short attention span.

Viewed: 2005-12-19 | Released: 2005-12-04 | Score: B

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