King Kong is One-Third Amazing, Two-Thirds Pretty Good. At its best, it’s the kind of adventure story little boys have dreamt about for centuries: finding a mystical island where dinosaurs roam free and you have to save the girl while everything tumbles around you. The advertisements, thankfully, show just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the sheer amount of adventure that takes place: there’s a lot more on that island than an ape and a T-Rex! Although the twenty minute T-Rex vs. King Kong battle is amazing; and it feels like five minutes. And this three-hour movie feels like two.

King Kong tells the story of a 1930s film crew looking for new and exciting locales, as well as a job during the depression. Naomi Watts plays the starlet, Adrien Brody the writer, Jack Black the director. Even Billy Elliot’s Jamie Bell makes an appearance as a thieving deckhand. The all-star cast helps the time move along while we patiently wait for the boat to reach the island. And you know Peter Jackson likes to take his sweet time. It’s all right though, because the film is beautiful and, like I said, it’s pretty good. And then, joy of joys, once that big hunk of an ape shows up, King Kong becomes the most exciting hour plus of non-stop thrills I’ve seen at the cinema since Jurassic Park. King Kong is what Jurassic Park 2 should have been. And also what Jurassic Park 3 should have been.

After said hour of fun, the film goes back to the classic tale and Kong gets brought back to New York City for the final third act on top of the Empire State Building. For those invested in the story, or reading into it as social commentary, seeing Kong locked up in chains on Broadway so the rich white man can be amused is heartbreaking. The big challenge for a film like this is making Kong someone you can sympathize with. Films about apes can only go so far. Sure a baby chimp in a diaper is cute, and I hate it when dogs are killed in films; but when dealing with a computer generated creature, Jackson’s toughest challenge is making us care; making us care about the relationship between Kong and Naomi Watts’ Ann Darrow. Every moment spent together climbing up the Empire State or ice-skating in Central Park (yeah, they do that) is valuable to them because the relationship is doomed from the start. Others, unable to get past the logistical impossibilities of such a union or to believe in Kong’s feelings, will just be waiting for the monkey to fall. But everyone loves dinosaurs.

- Nikita Burdein