The title of this post says it all. King Kong is a stunning movie, filled with really beautiful cinematic moments.

It is also too fucking long. This is the first time ever that my movie watching experience was totally brought down by the length of the film.

Every shot and every scene just went on longer then it had to, and with no good reason to. Did Jackson think that by giving each “moment” more time, he could add gravitas and importance to it?

Part of me wants to download the entire thing and recut it to be tighter. Cause visually, it was brilliant. Structurely it is true and solid. The performances were great. BUT, movies, particularly fantasy films, have to keep things moving along, before we the audience has time to stop and realise we’re dancing with a backless maiden (how’s that for a writerly reference!)

Basically, the audience is, as always, asked to suspend our disbelief. For bad movies, this takes some effort. For good and great movies this comes more easily … but still takes some effort. We shouldn’t give have the time to think about it while we are doing it. I am afraid Kong gives us that time and more.