At three hours, seven minutes and jam-packed with larger-than-life action sequences -- this film is as big as Kong himself.

I must admit, I was expecting a great deal of yawning while waiting for the beast to break screen. But, actually, the first third of the production (even without Kong) arguably surpasses the rest of the film. Why? Awesome directing. Sweet art direction. But most impressively, an homage to the dialogue/acting of Kong's original film area that is coupled with a wonderfully subtle ribbing towards the same. To that add the perspective of a modern day sensibility. It's a difficult nuance to pull off and elegantly done here. Kudos.

Once the production sets foot on the island of giant creatures, that care falls prey to big action sequences. A herd of massive dinosaurs march through a narrow passage, bumping, tripping, falling, it's absolutely colossal, exciting and great cinema. However, the compositing of live-action people sacrifices some believability. Further, the scene marches on a tad too long. These same comments apply to most of the large-scale action sequences, which trample across the screen, almost one after the other. They're good, don't get me wrong, just a tad long, and that all of the humans aren't immediately killed is a mite hard to buy. That said, my gosh, I loved the scene where Kong fights off three dinosaurs while tossing Ann from hand to foot. It's absolutely gorgeous, unbelievably believable, and to boot, engages strongly on the emotional level while exuding eye-popping action. Huge applause here!

Naomi and Kong display fantastic emotive face work that also is just a tad over played. Nonetheless, this is one big film that people will flock to the theatre to see. And they'll get more bang for their ticket price than just about any other film this year.