Peter Jackson's King Kong

It seems to me that there are two general opinions regarding Peter Jackson's remake of the classic King Kong. The first is that it is an epic of similar quality to Mr. Jackson's Lord of the Rings films and based on the films reviews as well as box office totals I believe this side of the argument is well supported. The other side of the aisle contains people who also recognize the quality of the craftsmanship, but feel that at over 3 hours the film is too long. Add to that a couple of scenes that push the limits of good taste by featuring characters or creatures that are scarier (or just plain disgusting) than a PG-13 audience would typically expect. This side is of the discussion is supported by the fact that most people I talk to about the film seem to fall into this side of the argument and that King Kong has experienced far less fan fare on DVD/BluRay than Mr. Jackson's LOTR films.
This past January I listed King Kong as one of the 20 best films of the past decade so it's safe to say that I fall in line with those who believe this film is of equal quality to the Lord of the Rings films. But I have a slightly different take on why it is I love this film so much while others seem to have mildly enjoyed it, but ultimately dismissed it from conversations about the great films of the past ten years.
What I love about this film is that when I am watching it I feel as though I am watching a grand tribute to everything I love about films. Nothing is taken for granted in the 3 plus hours you spend with this film. Every scene, every shot, and every sound effect is used with exacting precision to produce what I believe is the ultimate example of epic film making.
Before seeing this film I remember seeing and reading about Mr. Jackson's love for the original film, it's influence on his career and why making this film was the equivalent of fulfilling a life long dream. In fulfilling that dream I believe Mr. Jackson gave us everything he always imagined this story could be with such precision and grace that even the LOTR films don't make for fair comparisons. Jackson sacrifices nothing here and provides his audience with romance, light humor, incredible thrills including a jaw dropping Jurassic Park moment, genuine terror and the satisfaction of feeling as though every element of this story was told exactly as it was supposed to be.
Along with Jackson, the film also boosts an incredible cast that includes what I believe to be an incredibly under appreciated performance from Jack Black as the stories Captain Ahab like character Carl Denham. Naomi Watts is mesmerising as the struggling actresses given a chance to star in a film without much of an explanation of what the film will be. She is convinced to give the film a chance because it's being written by Jack Driscoll who is played by Adrien Brody who feels far less out of place as an action hero (albeit a reluctant one) here than he does in the recent Predators film. The rest of the cast fills each one of their roles in such an exacting manor that you easily believe each one of them was meant to play that particular character.
I can't deny that the film requires a huge commitment of time. At one point my wife surprised me with a directors cut special edition of the film that pushed the running time beyond 3 hours and 20 minutes. I ultimately got rid of that version in favor of the theatrical version of the film because I believe it to be a perfect example of epic film making. I have already mentioned the film Predators in this post. I recently saw it and was disappointed by it primarily because the film I had playing in my head was better than what was on the screen. With the theatrical version of King Kong, Mr. Jackson was able to put everything I could imagine from this story on the screen with such remarkable attention to detail that I can honestly say after watching it again I believe it belongs as one of the 20 best films I have seen in the past 10 years. After all, in an era of micro-managing and meddling studio executives, there is something to be said for a story like this giving it's audience everything they can imagine up on the screen. This film truly is a representation of everything I love about films and their ability to take us to places we other wise may never have been able to imagine.