forget six flags...

...just go to the theater! the captain and i finagled our way to go see king kong yesterday afternoon. this was a true peter jackson movie - a real roller coaster. the first hour could have been cut down to about 35 minutes. i think the purpose of the drawn-out dialogue and slow-paced scenes was to make sure that we understood that carl denham was dishonest, had no remorse and was a bit insane. we were also to be sure that ann darrow was desperate for a dollar, but still had morals. then we had to make sure to know that the ship's crew was crooked, money-hungry, and - oh - had a bazillion bottles of chloroform below deck.

the second hour, however, made up for any snoozing that may have occurred during the first sixty minutes. the skull island natives were just way creepy! if there ever needed to be a picture next to the word "savage" in the dictionary, a snapshot of any one of these people would more than suffice. thank goodness jackson took advantage of the technology available these days and added all kinds of scary things to the island. it was sort of a cross between jurassic park and a mutant bug farm, backdropped with indiana jones, topped off with a big helping of giant ape. believe me, you never catch your breath in the second hour of this flick.

the last hour is pretty true to the original 1930's film, and we all know how it ends. but with digital magic enabling kong to be so expressive, it was truly not a happy ending. but what a ride! what. a. ride!