The 2005 remake of 1933's King Kong is a film that has always been a mixed-bag in my opinion. I think the original King Kong is a great film, visually impressive for the time, and still captivating to watch. The remake aims to hit those marks, comes close, but still falls a bit short. While the visual effects are, for the most part, impressive the film suffers from two key flaws;
1) Jack Black is miscast as Carl Denham.
and
2) The runtime.
To the first point, I like Jack black in some movies but I think his acting chops are limited and, unlike in the original, his version of Denham is played off as a bit of a buffoon.
The other negative is the runtime. The original story, which was told in less than 2 hours has been stretched out into a film that is over 3 hours long. I have no problem with long films, 1939's Gone with the Wind is among my top 5 or so favorites of all-time, but it has a reason to be that long. This film feels like a lot of filler, particularly when they're on the ship on the way to Skull Island.
As for some positives; Aside from Jack Black, I like the cast that was put together for this film. In addition to that, the idea of a small group of people heading to a mysterious island and encountering King Kong is a story I find interesting across all versions.
Overall, it is well made and for those who don't like black & white films this is a perfectly fine version of the story. However, I do still recommend the 1933 film over this one.
3.5 out of 5
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