King Kong lives

I can't do movie reviews, but I won't let that stop me. I enjoy the story, or I don't, but I just am no connoisseur of characterization, acting, or cinematography.

King Kong was worth 3 of 4 stars to me. I would watch it again, but I wouldn't swim through shark infested waters for the chance.

The kids figured today was the day to see it. (I would have waited 'til it hit the dollar theater, but a movie has to be Braveheart to get me to spend $8 on my own.) It was a blast. I laughed through the whole movie at all the little conflicts. They were well done, and just fun.

It was not, however, an action flick. The movie even says that it is not an adventure story at one point. What it was was 1) a chick flick with a big fuzzy leading man, and 2) an American tragedy.

Taking a cue from National Review Online's pre-review, I enjoyed watching Kong as "everyman". Like the rest of us, Kong has a hard time figuring out how to deal with the woman in his life. She has a hard time figuring out what chest thumping means. It all works out in the middle.

It's the end that's so hard.

And that is the tragedy part. I enjoyed the fact that everyone knows that this relationship doesn't end so well. Each step of the movie is another step closer to the end, and Jackson does a great job of reminding us of that from time to time.

Fun stuff.