Though, knowing now that Howard Shore (the composer for LOTR) had an entire score made and then scrapped, really makes me wonder what we could have had. Each place and situation has its own unique score that fits so well. James Newton Howard’s score is nothing short of beautiful and, no joke, it’s probably the second best thing about this movie - the first being the dinosaur fight. The scene at the bottom of the cliff with all the bug monsters is still incredible to watch.Īnd then there’s the music. Kong looks great, as he really looks and feels like a 50-foot tall Gorilla, as do the dinosaurs, bugs, water and even New York City- all worthy of the film’s Oscar win. What I’ve noticed about Jackson’s WETA company over the years is that their VFX work is virtually unparalleled. Yes, there are shots that look weird and fake, but those are few and far between. Since this is a Peter Jackson movie, you have to expect the visuals to be good….and they still hold up after 15 years. He never says a single word, but you know exactly how the character feels. This was his second motion capture character post-Gollum (and the first time playing an ape) and Serkis gives easily the best performance, depicting Kong’s animalistic rage while subtly conveying a wide array of emotion. Their relationship, despite not being not the main focal point, is still interesting and downright gut wrenching at times.Įveryone from the main cast to the supporting cast does a great job, but who really shines is Andy Serkis as the Kong. Adrien Brody is also phenomenal, but the real standouts are Jamie Bell and Evan Parker as Jimmy and Hayes. Naomi Watts is incredible as Ann Darrow, perfectly encapsulating the feeling of young hope and desire with the dread of maybe being forced to do something in order to eat. Everybody (yes, Jack Black included) bring their A game here.

Does that statement still hold water, or has the movie actually aged well? Over the years, however, King Kong has grown a reputation for being everything wrong with Jackson’s work: too long, overstuffed and filled to the brim with VFX. At the time it was a polarizing entry moviegoers weren’t super happy about the film but critics seemed to like it.

Fifteen years ago, Peter Jackson followed up his Lord of the Rings trilogy with a passion project that had been on his mind since the late 80s: a three hour (three and a half if you watched the extended edition) long King Kong movie.

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