Keep in mind that the original (1933) version of "King Kong" is one of my favorite movies of all-time. With that in mind I was somewhat skeptical about this new version.

The first hour of this new remake dragged unmercifully.

Thats about the only bad thing I can say about the movie. I LOVED IT!

Director Peter Jackson did a splendid job of bringing this classic tale of beauty and the beast to the screen. The movie is absolutely beautifully photographed and the special effects are awesome. Naomi Watts' "Ann Darrow" is the best of any of the three versions (the Fay Wray role). She's a decent actress who captured the bit about feeling sorry for Kong excellently.

The dinosaur scenes on Kong's Skull Island may have been a tad overdone but they're fun and the "bugs" scene in the bottom of a ravine (alluding to the famous lost spider scene from the original) is one of the skeeviest scenes I've ever watched. (Kong fights THREE Tyrannosaurs!)

The rest of the cast (the Carl Denham role and the Jack Driscoll role) passed, but only barely so (Naomi Watts and Kong stole the movie).

There are plenty of the original's lines in this, and even some "inside" references to the original, so the hardcore "Kong" junky will have fun seeing/hearing them.

This one's gonna have a boffo box office when all is said and done.

Go see it!!!