King Kong (2005)Movie Reviews

Gifts + Promos

The Vow Free Gift

Buy tickets & receive a FREE 3-Month Love Forecast from Astrology.com!

Fandango Bucks

Send your sweetheart the gift of movies this Valentine’s Day!

Journey Sweeps

Enter for a chance to win a trip for 2 to Nicaragua!

Interactive Oscar Ballot

Who's taking home the Oscar? Cast your vote & challenge your friends on Facebook!

Need Help?
Must Go!
Avg. Critic Score: 81 out of 100 Universal acclaim Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
13 Iffy for 13+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 100
    Washington Post | Stephen Hunter

    Jackson's big monkey picture show is certainly the best popular entertainment of the year. The film is a wondrous blend of then and now: It honors its mythic predecessor of 1933 while using sophisticated movie technology to seamlessly manipulate the fantastic. Read full review

  • 100
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    Here is the jaw-dropping, eye-popping, heart-stopping movie epic we've been waiting for all year. Read full review

  • 100
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    One of the wonders of the holiday season. Read full review

  • 100
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    A magnificent entertainment. It is like the flowering of all the possibilities in the original classic film. Read full review

  • 100
    The New York Times | Dana Stevens

    The rapport between Ms. Watts and Mr. Serkis is extraordinary, even though it is mediated by fur, latex, optical illusions and complicated effects. Mr. Serkis, who also played Gollum in the "Lord of the Rings" movies, is redefining screen acting for the digital age, while Ms. Watts incarnates the glamour and emotional directness of classical Hollywood. Read full review

  • 90
    The Hollywood Reporter | Kirk Honeycutt

    The gorilla is great, the girl terrific, sets are out of this world, creatures icky as hell, and the director clearly does not believe in the word "enough." Read full review

  • 90
    Los Angeles Times | Carina Chocano

    King Kong is an homage not just to the original but to the history of movies themselves. Read full review

  • 90
    Variety | Todd McCarthy

    Almost too much of a good thing, Peter Jackson's remake of the film that made him want to make movies is a super-sized version of a yarn that was big to begin with, a stupendous adventure that maximizes, and sometimes oversells, its dazzling wares. Read full review

  • 88
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    Jackson is a visionary filmmaker who is not only a technical wizard but also a master storyteller. With Jackson at the helm, you would expect dazzling special effects and epic action sequences, but what is most surprising is how heartfelt the romance feels. Read full review

  • 25
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    On its own terms, the film is overlong, repetitive and lacks impact. Even if this were the first gorilla-in-love movie ever made, audiences would come away vaguely dissatisfied, suspecting there was an intriguing idea buried somewhere in here, but it didn't quite come off. Read full review

View more reviews for King Kong (2005) on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 13+ Boisterous, spectacular remake of 1933 classic.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that the movie includes numerous violent scenes that may be frightening for younger viewers and some action pushing the PG-13 edge. Specifically, humans are attacked on the island by giant bugs, bats, and dinosaurs in sustained, pounding action scenes. Kong shifts from scary (chest-pounding and roaring) to sympathetic; he's attacked brutally by men in tanks and planes, shooting guns. Characters drink and smoke cigarettes; Ann wears a slip through most of her adventures on the island. Most troubling is the depiction of the black island natives, who appear as nightmarish, surreal images, chanting and shaking when they sacrifice Ann to Kong. The showbiz version of this scene (recreated in New York) uses blackface performers.
  • Families can talk about the relationship between Ann and Kong. How does their mutual affection extend beyond person and pet, to something more complicated? How does Denham's exploitation of Kong parallel his exploitation of people? How do the military attacks make Kong increasingly sympathetic (even an underdog, out of place in the city), as he tries to protect Ann and then she tries to protect him? How do the blackface performers serve as commentary on mainstream fear of the "unknown"?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Filmmaker is crass and greedy; military is brutal; King Kong means well.
What to watch for
  • violence false5 Violence: King Kong fights dinosaurs; dinosaurs stomp and eat people; King Kong bites a person's head off, tosses bodies (including young women) fecklessly; giant bugs attack humans; in NYC, military shoots Kong off ESB.
  • sex false0 Sex: Couple kisses; Ann runs around in her slip on Skull Island. Reference to "boobies."
  • language false3 Language: Mild cursing.
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Neon signs in Times Square advertise '30s products (Chevrolet, Coca Cola, Pepsodent).
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Denham drinks from flask, crewmen smoke cigarettes.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

Looking for more reviews? Movies.com Critics Say:

Dave White

4.5

Dave White Profile See Dave White's Profile

… totally entertaining … Read full review See Dave White's on MOVIENAME on Movies.com

Read more movie reviews at Movies.com

King Kong (2005) Movie Ratings + Reviews

Fans say

Go 4,168 fan reviews

Critics say

Must Go! See all critic reviews

King Kong (2005) Featured Trailers + Video Clips

Facebook Movie Fans

Fan Fandango on Facebook