"And lo, the beast looked upon the face of beauty. And it stayed its hand from killing. And from that day, it was as one dead. "

Although it is common for some sequels to have the tendency to be better than the original film, it is rare for a remake to be a lot more superior than the original film. Peter Jackson's version of the 72-year-old classic King Kong is probably the ultimate film remake and also the top film of 2005 so far! The 3-hour running time and $207-million budget was worth it, I have to admit. It is a film that makes you laugh, cry, scream, cringe, and feel in awe at the same time. It's a film that has everything for everybody: action, romance, comedy, drama, horror, suspense, fantasy, and even a little touch of musicals. Jackson succeeded by paying homage to the original film that inspired him in his career, through the Depression-era setting, the subtle references in the dialogue (Carl Denham asking for an actress named Fay who is unfortunately busy working on an RKO film by Cooper), the final dedication at the end to the "original explorers of Skull Island"; as well in expanding the character development, the environment of Skull Island (The brontasaurus stampede and Kong's heart-pounding fight between 3 V-rexes are just exhilarating), and of course, the touching beauty-and-the-beast relationship between Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) and the titular giant ape (Andy Serkis).

FUN FACT: Howard Shore, who had previously composed the music for Jackson's LOTR films, was the original composer and had recorded some music before he left the project due to creative differences with Jackson. He was replaced by James Newton Howard, who only had less than two months to record and compose new music for the film (this is documented in Kongisking.net). However, you can spot Shore making a cameo appearance in the film as the conductor in Kong's Broadway show.