King Kong

I thought it might be a good idea to see the original King Kong from 1933 before I went to see Peter Jackson's 2005 version. It was interesting to see where Jackson recreated the 1933 movie frame-by-frame in some places, but that's about all I got out of the exercise.

Both films are fascinatingly good. Jackon's film is stupendous once the cast and crew get away from New York and out to sea, headed for Skull Island, home of Kong. From that point on the adventure never stalls. I didn't even notice that it was 3 hours long.

The islanders are a big surprise. A lethal Kong-cult has mesmerised the inhabitants and turned them into almost zombie killers, desperate to please Kong. Jackson has a bit of a history with zombies.

Kong has been presented as a kind of a junk-yard dog with a bad temper - the kind of animal that you might come to appreciate if it is on your side in a life-or-death fight. The fine tuning of the relationship between Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) and Kong is handled very well. It is totally believable how Kong's demise is such a personal loss for her.

Buy a popcorn and coke before you go in. It just feels right!