Peter Jackson's "King Kong" Review

The first reviews are coming in for Peter Jackson's remake of "King Kong," and so far the thumbs are trending upward.

Reviewers rate Jackson's new Kong

Early United States reviews of King Kong say New Zealand director Peter Jackson has matched the giant ape with a true giant of a film.

While King Kong premiered in New York yesterday, it is not set for general release until December 14 so many newspapers are waiting to publish reviews, but New York Daily News writer Jack Matthews didn't hold back: "This ape rocks!' he wrote. "Its colour, soundtrack and physical landscape are spectacular and its computer-assisted effects deliver a Kong so realistic you can smell his breath in the back row of the balcony."

Matthews did not mind the King Kong-sized length of the film. "At three hours - divided among exhilarating action sequences, raucous humour and romance of both human and bestial variety - the latest version of the classic 1933 beauty and the beast story feels less like a remake than the original film revived, expanded and pumped up on steroids."

Summing up, Matthews said the film would enhance Jackson's standing as a director. "King Kong will further Jackson's reputation as the leading visionary among fantasy filmmakers and it restores the Empire State Building to the stately glory of its past."

Newsweek's Devin Gordon was also impressed. "Some critics will complain that the film's length is an act of Oscar-drunk hubris, but while 'Kong' may be indulgent, it's not pretentious," he wrote."And it's certainly never dull. Jackson has honoured his favourite film in the best possible way: by recapturing its heart-pounding, escapist glee." Gordon said King Kong was a tender, even heartbreaking, film...