King Kong (PG-13)
by David Lee Simmons
There are very few films this year that have been met with so much anticipation by the movie-going public and received so much impressive early buzz from the critics as has Peter Jackson's remake of King Kong. "What's up on screen is rarely short of staggering," gasps Variety's Todd McCarthy. "The movie seals Jackson's reputation," gushes Entertainment Weekly's Lisa Schwartzbaum. "He's the most gifted big-picture artist working today, a master of epics from a human-eye view who excels at employing 21st-century technological wizardry to suit the needs of ageless, personal storytelling." And so on. All this over a super-sized gorilla? Take that, Steven Spielberg! (In hindsight, can't you just imagine the Freudian missteps that Mr. S might have employed if handed the driving wheel to the LOTR trilogy? But we digress.) Frankly, Jackson deserves just about all the kudos he's received for that massive undertaking, so we're intrigued by the possibilities that Jackson can bring to this now-familiar (and now, three-hour) story of a gorilla lookin' for a little monkey love. And look, there's Naomi Watts, blonder than ever, ready to bring it, supported by Adrien Brody, Jack Black and other promising cast members.
click to enlarge
