King Kong (2005)

It's Adventure with a big, box letter ! and some stunning special effects. Peter Jackson's followup to his superlative Lord of the Rings films may not have the same emotional depth or spectacular world-building, but it still has a lot of heart and a lot of fun. It's just a shame that it's so damn long. Do we really need a full ninety minutes of build-up to whet our appetites for some extremely big game hunting? As soon as the group gets to the island it's good, classic fun. But getting there is both half the battle and half the movie. Beyond that, there are some amazing effects, a bunch of heart-pounding chase sequences, and Jack Black doing a surprisingly good job at acting. Definitely worth seeing.

8 out of 10.