I admire Peter Jackson for his gall and his insight, but King Kong just seems to go overboard with everything. The CGI, the acting, the tomfoolery, and just the overall bombacity of the film. It just seems like too much was put into this film, and in the end, the viewer gets an over expansive film that trips all over its technological greatness.
I will admit, the CGI and Kong were excellent, bringing about a a new look to the big ape. The facial features and little details made him very believable in every sense. But unfortunately, there was a lot of boffo background CGI which took the steam out of lot of moments. Fortunately, all of the money was put on the final scenes in the movie. Being a little leery of heights, seeing the angles and fly-overs from the airplanes was quite exhilarating, and the scene on top of the Empire State Building was something to behold.
Like a lot of people, I felt the movie could have been trimmed a little. Three hours seems excessive for this film, and Jackson seems to subtly imply that Jack Black's character is himself, struggling to grasp the concept of non-gimmick film making. King Kong was certainly entertaining and worth the $5.50 I spent, but the film tends to be a step back for Jackson. Hopefully he won't drown his next vision in CGI as much as he did with this one.
