KING KONG | 2005 | Peter Jackson's ape sports a pot belly, and it's not a good look. His film carries extra baggage, too, almost an hour and half's worth. Some of the padding pays off: the giant bugs; the skating in the park. But it's just where you'd expect a state-of-the-art remake to have it all over the 1933 original that this King Kong falls down. Count the cuts during the action scenes or the production numbers. They sure give the retina a workout, but . . . Scary? Moving? Don't blame the actors. True, Jack Black is inexplicable as Carl Denham, the blustery showman in search of a movie (is he supposed to be funny or just inept?), and Adrien Brody's Jack Driscoll squeaks as the third wheel in the Ann Darrow/Kong relationship. But Naomi Watts is far better than Fay Wray, and Andy Serkis out-acts the six-inch fur-covered doll who originally played Kong. A good thing, too, because what was implied in 1933 gets spelled out here: they're in love.

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