Film Bites: King Kong

I'll post a full review closer to the December 14 release date, but I thought fans of formerly obscure New Zealand slasher director Peter Jackson would like to hear that his remake of "King Kong" is smashing good fun. This afternoon's New York screening offered free popcorn, ridiculously tight security that involved the collecting of iPods in brown paper bags, and an early look at Jackson's follow-up to "The Lord of the Rings."

While Jackson stays faithfully close to the sublime 1933 original (sometimes employing dialogue verbatim), the decades of film making that lie between the two versions offer a superlative number of thrills. The first third, in which Jack Black, Naomi Watts, and Adrien Brody journey toward a mysterious island, has the spunky humor of the best 1930s comedies. The middle is a rip-roaring jungle adventure in which Jackson lets his B-movie tendencies free reign; a dinosaur stampede and the most fun anybody had with bugs since Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom are just warm-up for the Kong/T-Rex fight and the giant silverback's capture.

After Kong is brought to New York, the unavoidable tragic ending is celebrated with typical Jackson grandeur. In fact, "Lord of the Rings" fans who are still sad that the trilogy is over will find plenty of vintage Jackson tricks to keep them happy. (Think of it as "Lord of the Rings" methadone therapy.) The sweeping miniature shots, the fraught slo-mo moments, the over-the-top emotion set to an ethereal soundtrack--it's all here. And best of all: there's real chemistry between the doomed CGI ape and the wonderful Naomi Watts. After "Revenge of the Sith," "King Kong" marks the second operatic and tragic fantasy of the year, and it is hard to imagine that in this niche, either film can be topped. [posted by Jurgen]