Give my regards to Peter Jackson! This movie is intense, funny, and keeps you involved the whole time! Every time that you think the situation [for the characters] is going to get better, something worse happens, and that's a good thing (I think...). In this movie, the washed-up film director, Carl Denham (Jack Black), is in trouble. The footage for his latest movie has been declared boring by his sponsors, and his funding has been cut. Carl isn't about to let this stop him, however. Recently, he has found a map showing the way to an island that has yet to be explored by any man. To Carl, this mysterious 'Skull Island' is the perfect place to shoot his film, and he's not about to let some pesky executive producers ruin his masterpiece. Quickly, Carl runs off to find a female lead (the original one quits) and begin the journey. Fortunately, Carl has some luck. The young theatre actress, Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts), has just been laid off of her job and is desperate for work. Because she really has no choice, Ann joins Carl on what will become an amazing adventure. Little do the men of the seafaring ship, the Venture, know, Skull Island is the home of cannibalistic savages, giant bugs, dinosaurs, and a giant gorilla (the last of its kind, supposedly) known to the savages as 'Kong'. This movie is set in the 1930s and tries to resemble the original King Kong (1933) film. Therefore, yes, King Kong is captured and brought back to New York, where he breaks loose, but almost everyone knows that already.... I have seen the original King Kong, and there are definitely a lot of similarities between the two. First of all, some of the lines are the same and all of the old names are reused. Second, there are dinosaurs and the same plot. Now, there are also differences. In the original King Kong, the natives on Skull Island had a language that Captain Englehorn (Frank Reicher in the first and Thomas Kretschmann in the remake) could speak. Those natives were actually kind of friendly towards the newcomers, although they did steal Ann for a sacrifice. In the new movie, the natives are these scary, dirty cannibals who kill the civilized people as soon as they see them. Also, this remake has a sadder aspect to it, when Ann actually befriends Kong, instead of always fearing him like in the original. Finally, Jack Driscoll (Bruce Cabot and Adrien Brody) is portrayed more as a sexist hunk in the original, while in this film, he is more gentle and romantic (more as a rival to Kong). All in all, this remake is much better than the original. Definitely see this movie, it is worth your money and I'm pretty sure that it's the best movie of 2005!
