King Kong (2005)
Last Watch Date - February 15, 2026
Total Times Watched - Once
Comments
I never really saw this movie before. Not the 1933 version and not this remake. What I did have was this vague idea of Kong being a monster, being brought to NYC, and then climbing to the top of the Empire State Building with the girl. Turns out that's a very poor summary of events.
This movie is really sad. It's a three hour journey of exploitation and awful decisions. What's most annoying is that the main guy who causes this mess never has any bad repercussions.
Well with that, let's talk about the biggest issues I have with this movie from a MOVIE standpoint. The amount of fluff in this movie is NUTS. I'd say at least half of it could be cut and it would've been better. There are so many goofy KONG FU fight scenes that are overdone and make you feel like you're watching a cartoon. There's a whole sequence in the island where these dinosaurs stampede and sort of comically fall all over one another. Why? It adds nothing aside from getting some of the people killed along the way. They could've died in any number of other ways. Oh and he uses this weird slow-mo thing in "action" scenes that really does not need to be there.
The CGI is pretty good for some bits (like the ape) and AWFUL for others (dinosaurs, specifically the guys running .. through them?). Peter Jackson really loves over-exposing his movies to this nonsense. I never had a problem with the Lord of the Rings movies because it was done pretty well, but this movie and the Hobbit show a total lack of control on his part. Things that could've been practical are not and then he goes wild with extra scenes that don't need to be there.
Because of those two things, the pacing in this is very weird. The movie is over 3 hours long. That's just too long, period. I looked up the original runtime and it was 100 minutes. That's more like what you'd need to tell this story. I'm guessing they have similar love story stuff going on in that one, but the way it happens in this one is goofy. They take an hour+ to even GET to the island. Most of that is focusing on two characters, but they don't build anything worth watching with them anyway. And the love story that is spawned between Ann and Jack makes no sense. They're strangers, flirty, she gets kidnapped, he saves her, they split up entirely, they fall in love on a roof? WHAT?
On the plus side, Kong is cool. The score is great. The set for the island is really nice overall, even with all of the CGI. The boat set was also really nice. The acting was good. Naomi Watts is still one of my favorites. Jack Black is a good douche.
Recommended?
No. It made me really sad. Also it's super long.
