Barnes & Noble

Some said it couldn't be done, others said it shouldn't be done, but Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson did it: He remade the classic 1933 monster movie that put a Depression-era spin on the legend of Beauty and the Beast. An avowed fan of the original, Jackson used cutting-edge digital technology to make his Kong as realistic as possible, and the special effects are flawless -- leading to a 2006 Academy Award for Best Effects. He also retained the 1930s setting and the basic plot: With creditors yapping at his heels, daring filmmaker Carl Denham (Jack Black) enlists a Dutch ship captain to take his expedition to a remote, uncharted island where monstrous creatures, never before photographed, are said to roam. Hoping to improvise a workable plot around the sensational footage he expects to get, Denham brings along playwright Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody) and actress Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts). They eventually reach the fog-shrouded island, and that's where the monkeyshines begin. Jackson fleshes out the original's story with extraneous supporting characters and subplots, but the principal thrust remains the same -- Kong's fascination with the doll-like blonde beauty proves his undoing. We could quibble with some of Jackson's choices: Black's Denham could be more sympathetic, and the big action sequences are longer than they need to be. Nonetheless, this is a remarkable achievement that succeeds both as an homage and a thrilling adventure film in its own right. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

One of the greatest adventure stories in Hollywood history gets a new interpretation in this action drama from Academy Award-winning director Peter Jackson. In the early 1930's, Carl Denham (Jack Black) is a daring filmmaker and adventurer who has gained a reputation for his pictures documenting wildlife in remote and dangerous jungle lands; despite the objections of his backers, Denham plans to film his next project aboard an ocean vessel en route to Skull Island, an uncharted island he discovered on a rare map. Correctly assuming his cast and crew would be wary of such a journey, Denham has told them they're traveling to Singapore, but before they set sail, his leading lady drops out of the project. Needing a beautiful actress willing to take a risk, Denham finds Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts), a beautiful but down-on-her-luck vaudeville performer and offers her the role; cautious but eager to work, Darrow takes the role, and onboard the ship she strikes up a romance with Jack Driscoll (Adrian Brody), a respected playwright hired by Denham to write the script for his latest epic. When Denham and Company arrive on Skull Island, the natives react with savage violence, but they happen to be the least of their worries. Skull Island is a sanctuary for prehistoric life, and lording it over the dinosaurs and other giant beasts is Kong, a twenty-five-foot-tall gorilla who can outfight any creature on Earth. The natives kidnap Darrow, giving her to Kong as an offering to appease the giant beast; Denham and his men set out to find her, with Driscoll bravely determined to save the woman he loves. Eventually, Driscoll finds Darrow and Denham outwits Kong, intending to take the giant ape back to New York for display. But Kong has bonded with Darrow, and his attraction to her proves to be his undoing. Andy Sirkis, who provided the body movements for Gollum in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings pictures, performed similar duties on King Kong, studying gorillas so he could mimic their actions, which were then used as the basis for the special effects crew's digital animation of the great ape. Mark Deming

Product Details

• UPC: 025192994524
• Source: UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
• Time: 3:08:00
• Sales Rank: 34,517

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