my hat is off to peter jackson for not trying to "bastardize" the original storyline and trying to make "his" version of king kong. altho i've never watched the original king kong (and i dont think i want to :p), what i got from most, not all reviews is jackson just translating the same story to today's standards of filmaking. i totally love his portrayal of carl denham. i totally went beserk over his bastardness halfway thru the film. some ppl who are used to him as funnyman couldnt accept it tho hahaha. i dont blame them.
as for the negatives, i totally agree with some reviews and other viewers that the segment with jimmy was a total waste. he disappeared without a trace (prolly will show up in the extended DVD or something :D and i really hate the senseless Mr Hayes sacrifice scene. just run back to the group enuff la!
the CG scenery was grand. too grand. sometimes, too LOTR-ish. i can name 2 scenes where the camera pan, rotation and flyby was exactly like in LOTR. i know its just filmaker signature, but an LOTR fan who sees the film cannot avoid noticing the similarity hehe.
the romantic moments (not between humans at that) were dragging and well, long. thats about it. she should like fill the moments with trying to talk with the gorilla. the only word we see is "beautiful" :D. its arguably more realistic given the short duration of her acquaintance with the ape, so only that much can be learned and remembered by kong, but this is a movie!!
final opinion. i personally rank it 4/5 stars in my book. its totally entertaining for its time. i'll be sad when peter jackson becomes yesterday's news. (its inevitable, but i hope it'll be a LONG time from now)
go KONG go!