Grade: A- | Genre: Action/Thriller Summary: One ape you will love, in fact, you will want one of your very own for Christmas. Peter Jackson, quite simply, has done it again. After winning three Oscars for Return of the King, or in truth for the entire Tolkien trilogy, Peter Jackson has remade the first film he ever loved and created a tender monster movie that has painstakingly fleshed out the story and characters to the max, and to top it off, this flick possesses a soulful ape that can move you to tears. What more could you ask from a movie this holiday season? At a running time of slightly over three hours, you will need to hold off on the extra-large drinks, but you will get your money's worth out of this film. While a bit overindulgent in the detail and time, Jackson lovingly refashions a tribute to his favorite gorilla, who is breathtakingly created by WETA and given humanity by Andy Serkis, formerly Gollum from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Kong is the real star of this film. Every other element of this movie fades away against the humanity in Kong's eyes. Does this film match up to the famous Rings trilogy? Well not exactly, but then the genius of Tolkien is a hard act to follow, however, Jackson gives Kong his level best. This film possesses more story than the previous Kong movies, a breathtaking, 1933 New York City, amazing action sequences, and a monster gorilla you will adore. The movie is one of the two seasonal blockbusters and should be seen on a large screen. The other blockbuster I suspect will be The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. So there you have it this holiday season for your viewing pleasure, noble monkey love and a saintly lion.

In case you happen to live on "Skull Island," where Kong is from, and do not know this story: an unscrupulous film director takes his crew to an uncharted island to shoot a movie, and his haunted lead actress is captured by insane natives and served up as a sacrifice to a 25-foot, Silverback gorilla that just happens to live in the jungle. The ape falls for his victim, is captured and put on display in New York City, and as a fellow does in the Big Apple, he takes his girl to the Empire State Building for evening out. Peter Jackson, threw in 32 million extra of his own money into this project to deliver the epic monster flick of his dreams and works magic again to present us with worlds we have not seen before. Yes, we have seen dinosaurs, strange animals and deranged natives, but not like this. This island makes Jurassic Park look like Central Park and is crawling with angry, creepy creatures, and dinosaurs that will make you squirm. Seeing Kong take on a T-Rex might be worth the price of admission alone. For an action/adventure flick, the CGI in this film is nothing short of miraculous, and serves the plot and characterization of the movie beautifully, which seldom happens in this genre.

King Kong Starring: Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody, Andy Serkis & Thomas Kretschmann Director: Peter Jackson View the Trailer (Quicktime) Related Articles Ten Sexiest Women of Film The Ring Two The Jacket

In a film with decidedly three acts, the first one is slightly slow and is prone to a certain indulgence as the character studies abound, and so do the speeches. At times, there are almost too many back stories, and this aspect might bother you to some extent, especially if you just want to see the ape. This deliberately decelerated beginning could put a few people off, but hang on, when you get to Skull Island the movie just does not stop, and in fact, the next act is a spectacular, exhilarating, and powerfully sustained suite of adventure movie making. After the island, you are wondering how can they top this, but just when you think it cannot happen, Jackson does, as he recreates Depression-era New York and lets Kong have his way there. The only way to survive the last act is to get a Kleenex and dig your fingernails into the arms of your chair, and pull for Kong to hang onto the Empire State Building.

So go, see this one on a big screen, you need to. A DVD on a television screen six months from now will not capture Kong. This is one big gorilla you do not want to miss and he needs his space. Honest.

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