On Pay Per View: King Kong

Hey! I'm only about a year late, right?

We finished watching Peter Jackson's "King Kong" last night, here are our reflections:

Very long (obvious I know), required 3 viewing sessions to finish. I think we enjoyed it more because of that. It might have been overwhelming at the show.

Most believable of the three. Ok, I know "suspension of disbelief" is an oxymoron with a giant ape flick, but this one feels the most like how real people would react. Both love stories were believable (the one with the man, AND the ape).

Special effects: I was happy that most of the film that the glitches were not apparent, but there were a few that were obvious (I think Jackson actually intended it). Here are a few:
1) When the (CG) Venture sails out of NY harbor, the boat moves too fast and the smoke leads the ship. The smoke also moves with the ship instead of trailing behind (I think this was an intentional flub).
2) While the raptors and T-Rex's looked good, the Bronto's looked more than a tad fake (again, I think intentional).
3) Clearly the Kong fight scenes had to be CG, as well as the flight scenes in NYC, but the jungle fight scenes looked so good, I wasn't thinking they were CG while watching them. In NYC it was pretty obvious (I think because some of the cars were real).

Surprise and Delight features:
1) Jack Black; I know some folks don't like him, but I find him very likeable (from a distance), maybe it's because he looks like a twisted version of my uncle Bill.
2) The Savages; Clearly the most savage of the three movies, though the scene was a bit too creepy and long. Daughter #1 thought they were the scariest thing in the movie, whereas I thought it was....
3) The bug Scene: After the flare, I was thinking the bugs were over, much to my surprise they weren't. Verrrry creepy....Especially the leeches(?). Honestly, it was the only scene in the movie that really creeped me out and gave me a scare.
4) Kong's eyes; Clearly the most expressive Kong of the three. For once we didn't have to have someone tell us what Kong was thinking (but they did anyways). The only eyes that were sadder in the move were Adrian Brody's.
5) Love, not pity; How wonderful for once that the girl does not just pity the ape, but actually feels for him. The ice scene was great.

If you haven't seen it; PPV or netflix it when you get a chance. I don't know If I'd want to own it, but it's definitely worth seeing. In my opinion, it's probably better seeing at home.