Mind-blowing I kept thinking while I watched Peter Jackson's King Kong that this is the movie I've been waiting 30 years to see, since 1976, when the first remake of King Kong came out. It is a grand early Christmas present.
I also couldn't help wondering what if this movie came out in 1933, what would audiences have made of it? When the original was made they chose to cut out a scene (now lost) with giant spiders because it was 'too intense'... this movie would have definitely sent theater-goers in 1933 running screaming from the theater into the street... kind of like they do in the film itself, set also in 1933. There's a lot of self-reference to movies in this movie about making movies amongst other things, but it's primarily a love story at it's core. A heart-wrenching love story, that in the telling, and in the story itself, now takes it's place in the firmament of spectacular modern-day mythologies such as Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and Titanic.
The action is incredibly intense, sometimes almost too much so. Past the first hour, I just sat there much of the time with my mouth wide open and my eyes agape. The whole finale is so dizzyingly realistic it's hard to imagine it not really happening. (If you're afraid of heights, beware). And the character of Kong is so evocative and expressive throughout it's really hard most of the time to remember that he's cgi. This really is a film to be seen, and appreciated on the big screen.
I think that, in a technical sense, this movie is another high-water mark that T2 and Roger Rabbit and Jurassic Park were for their times. I think it will definitely sweep the visual effects (and sound) awards and I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't get best picture of the year come Oscar time. The sound design is excellent. You can hear every insect of Skull Island and Kong's roar is truly menacing. I would be interested in learning how they created the roar. I even remember hearing a squealing velociraptor whiz past my right ear during a chase scene.
Naomi Watts is quite good in the role of Ann Darrow (played by Fay Wray in the original 1933 version) especially when one considers that much of her performance is non-verbal. Jack Black is also good as the maniacal Orson Welles-resembling director turned evil monetary opportunist.
On the downside, I give it a 9 because the special effects, in detail, in some sequences, didn't look quite finished (but they do come across quite strong for the most part) and some pretty blatant product placements including one for Universal Studios itself. Also the first hour does drag on too much. Plus, as I say, the movie is a bit too intense in some of the action sequences for my tastes anyway.
Some trivia: Keep an ear out for a line near the beginning referencing Fay Wray and also even a line stolen from a Bill Hicks comedy routine spoken by a producer at a movie screening.