KING KONG (4 outta 5 stars) Of course this movie is not quite as good as the 1933 original movie... how could it possibly be? But for a remake of a certified film classic to be as good as this movie is... that's still a significant achievement. Sure, I could nitpick about little things here and there where this movie goes awry... I hated the fake CGI native pole-vaulting from rock to rock, I hated when they brought in the "celestial choir" to pump up emotion at the end when anyone who was going to be affected was *already* choked up, I hated when Naomi is climbing the ladder to get to Kong at the end and the ladders breaks away from the building... helloooooooo, does *every* ladder have to break in *every* movie whenever someone is climbing one... there was more than enough exciting stuff going on... did we really have to see Kong reach out and pull Naomi back to safety once again? These are all minor flaws, though... the bulk of the movie is truly awe-inspiring... some of the best CGI effects to date (and I am *really* picky about CGI), a decent script and better performances and characterizations than one tends to see in a "blockbuster" movie like this. The action on Skull Island might seem a little overdone at times (the brontosaurus stampede could probably have been cut without anyone feeling cheated) but the most exciting sequence for me was the most superfluous: Kong fighting off a bunch of hungry dinosaurs while tumbling through a thick tangle of jungle vines. Great stuff... much more fun than those dreary "Lord of the Rings" flicks.
