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King Kong | 2005 | PG-13 | - 3.7.3

Naomi Watts stars in director Peter Jackson's homage to the 1933 original "King Kong" film: Watts is Ann Darrow, a starving actress that's cast by an unethical producer (Jack Black) in what is to be an epic film set on an undiscovered island. The island is teeming with giant creatures, including dinosaurs and an enormous ape. The ape is captured and taken back to the U.S. to be displayed but is infatuated with Ann and tries to find her. Also with Adrien Brody, Andy Serkis and Thomas Kretschmann. Directed by Peter Jackson. [3:07]

SEX/NUDITY 3 - A woman is in a low-cut nightgown through much of the movie, and it becomes wet and clings to her body in a few scenes; also, a woman wears a low-cut and form-fitting dress that reveals cleavage and her figure, and a woman wears a low-cut dress that reveals cleavage. A man is seen bare-chested when he comes out of the bathroom and he passes a woman in a robe. Male native islanders are bare-chested with loincloth type bottoms (bare chests are revealed along with a part of the bare buttock); female islanders are shown in tiny tops and bottoms that reveal part of their bare buttocks. Men and women on stage wear costumes that reveal bare abdomens, legs and cleavage (the women's tops are made out of coconut shells). We see a poster of a man holding a woman by the waist and she is leaning back, revealing cleavage, and we see many posters depicting scantily clad women (revealing cleavage, bare abdomens, bare shoulders and bare legs) covering the walls and windows of a burlesque theater.
 A man and a woman kiss tenderly, and a man and a woman hug.
 A woman sleeps in a large ape's hand, and the ape caresses her tenderly. A woman walks toward a large ape, it holds out its hand, it holds her and she caresses its face. A woman sits in a large ape's hand, and they dance and slide on ice together.
 A man and a woman look at each other with interest, and a woman thinks that a man is making a pass at her.
 A woman dances with several men: one younger man lifts her up and spins her around (nothing sexual is implied, although she is the only woman onboard a ship).

VIOLENCE/GORE 7 - Many people charge out of caves and attack other people: they push one man's head against a large rock and pound on it with a heavy club (we hear a thud), and another man is held down on the rock, the club is raised and then the person with the club is shot (he falls back and we see him with blood in his mouth).
 A man is stabbed through the back with a spear (we see the bloody point of the spear protruding through his chest and he falls to the ground with blood on his chest and mouth).
 In an extended scene, many very large flying insects and beetles attack several men: one man stands in shallow water, slimy creatures come to the surface, they sprout long tubes with teeth at the end, they try to attach themselves to the man and eventually do (one tube begins to "swallow" his head and we hear him scream, another swallows his arm and another swallows his leg); another man is attacked by flying insects, he swats at them, and another man shoots at the bugs.
 A man climbs up a wall and is grabbed by something inside a hole in the wall.
 A carnivorous dinosaur snaps at the foot of a man who's trying to climb up a rock wall, the dinosaur grabs the man's foot and pulls him down (we hear the man scream and we hear crunching).
 A woman is chased by a snapping T-Rex, she runs and falls near a ledge where she lies still and the dinosaur leaves; another T-Rex raises its head next to her and snaps at her several times, and she runs.
 A woman running through a jungle comes upon a dinosaur devouring a dead dinosaur, she turns to run and comes face-to-face with yet another dinosaur that chases her; she hides in a cave and hears a crunch as a larger dinosaur eats the one that was chasing her.
 Herbivorous dinosaurs stampede toward three men, and they are chased by carnivorous dinosaurs; the men run, they are nearly trampled several times, other men begin to run and we see two of them being stepped on, while the carnivorous dinosaurs try to snap at the men as they run. We see one carnivorous dinosaur biting the neck of another dinosaur, a man shoots a few of the carnivorous dinosaurs, one of them is trampled, a dinosaur and a man are pushed over a cliff, a large dinosaur is shot and tumbles down a steep incline, and many others fall and pile on top of it.
 A man goes to a cave entrance, he shoots a gun inside, a large ape charges toward him, picks him up and squeezes him (we hear crunching), and then throws him against a wall killing him (we see the man fall to the ground, very far below).
 Several men stand on a fallen tree across a deep ravine, and a large ape begins to shake and twist the tree causing a couple of men to fall to their deaths; the ape finally shoves the tree down the ravine, and the remaining men are tossed off the tree and fall a shorter distance to the ground.
 A large ape fights with a T-Rex who was chasing a woman: the dinosaur bites the ape's arm, the ape punches and kicks the dinosaur, another dinosaur comes and joins the fight, then a few more, and they all fight in an extended scene; a few dinosaurs are killed, others fall off a cliff, one bites the ape's leg as it falls pulling it down too, they are entwined in vines, swinging back and forth and continuing to fight -- the woman dangles from a dinosaur's large tooth, the dinosaur falls into water, and the woman is thrown clear and she runs, while the dinosaur chases her.
 A T-Rex and a large ape fight: they bite each other, the ape hits the dinosaur and pulls its jaws wide open until they crack and it falls limp (we hear a loud crunch and see blood on its mouth).
 A man and a woman run across a bridge, an ape jumps and catches onto a stone wall, passes through a gate and is tied by ropes and pulled to the ground where it breathes in fumes from chloroform; it struggles against the ropes, throws men into walls around him, picks up a small boat and throws it against a wall (it shatters and drops men into the water), it grabs a man, who shoots at it and bites him (we see his limp figure being thrown into the water), and is again shot in the leg with a harpoon (it screams in pain), and struck in the face with a bottle of chloroform, whereupon it falls unconscious.
 Soldiers fire weapons at a large ape, the ape runs through streets while being fired on, it climbs a very tall building, planes circle the building and then open fire, it knocks two planes out of the sky, is shot repeatedly, falls off the building and crashes to the street below, where people gather and climb on its body.
 A large ape awakens and becomes angry when it sees a man, and thrashes and pounds on the ground, whereupon it is swarmed by very large apes that bite him on the neck and head, and it struggles to get away; the man and a woman run away lowering themselves down a vine, they are snapped at by large bats, the ape pulls them back up, the man grabs onto the foot of a passing bat, and they fly away and are dropped into water.
 A woman climbs a ladder on the side of a very tall building but the ladder pulls away from the building and the woman falls, but she is caught and put inside the building.
 A woman tied to poles struggles to free herself, she stops when she hears something approaching her from the jungle, she sees an enormous ape that growls and snarls and bares its fangs, and she screams; it touches her face, it grabs her pulling her free and runs away carrying her in its hand.
 Many really large bugs (they seem scorpion-like) walk toward men trapped in a ravine, other men at the top shoot them and they fall in piles on the ground. We see two very large bugs fighting over something (it's not clear as to what it is). Many large multi-legged bugs crawl in a dark cave, a man throws a flare and the bugs hide; we also see a man lying dead with blood on his mouth. A woman crawls along the ground and finds an enormous spider under a rock; she recoils, a huge mosquito buzzes around her, a very large millipede walks toward her and touches her face, and an enormous beetle crawls over her shoulder -- she flips it off her and runs. Very large mosquitoes pester people as they walk through a thick jungle, and one man shoots a few of them.
 A large ape with long pointed teeth holds a woman in its hand, shakes her violently, pokes her and roars; the woman screams, she stabs the ape in the hand with a bone she picked up off the ground, the ape drops her and she tries to run but it snatches her back again. A large ape shoves a woman several times knocking her to the ground, the woman yells at the ape, the ape becomes angry, pounds the ground and roars, pounds its chest, throws things, and a huge boulder hits its on the head (it seems to have been hurt but the ape snorts and shakes it off). A large ape paws and pokes an unconscious woman.
 A ritual is performed before a woman is sacrificed to a huge ape: people dance and chant, they quake, their eyes roll back into their heads, and they bare their pointed teeth. An old woman chants and growls toward another woman (she is menacing and threatening).
 A man finds a dead man with a bloody cut on his throat. A man is hit in the head with a club (we see him later with a bloody head wound). A woman is taken from a ship and dragged through water; she is tied to tall poles and lowered across a deep ravine (she struggles and screams). A man is hit in the face with the end of a rope and is cut (we see blood on his hand and a handkerchief). A man is chased into an elevator by an armed soldier, and he kicks the soldier out as the doors close.
 A woman hears a child crying, and then sees a child standing in front of her (the child raises her hand and makes a strange noise); we see many other people cowering in cave-like dwellings, a man tries to offer the child a chocolate, the child bites the man's arm, and they struggle briefly.
 Several people walk into walled ruins where they see skeletons strewn on the ground and skeletons hanging from spears, with cloth covering their eyes. Many skulls line the wall of a cave (they appear to be human).
 A ship sails into very thick fog, the crew is apprehensive, the captain steers the ship frantically and the ship comes fast upon a wall, turns but cannot avoid hitting the wall (the people onboard are thrown around); the ship is then thrown onto rocks, and it comes to rest on a big rock (it looks like the face of an angry ape). People in a small boat row past a rock formation that resembles an angry ape.
 On a stage in front of an audience a woman tied to poles is raised in front of a large ape that's shackled to a metal frame: the woman screams, the ape becomes agitated, pulls at the restraints, breaks free, grabs the woman, throws her aside, and people in the audience run screaming into the streets; the ape tears up the seats in the theater, chases a man, crashes through a wall and into the street, it is struck repeatedly by cars, taxis and buses (it is unharmed), grabs several women, tosses them aside, pounds on a trolley car, and chases a car and flips it over (the driver is briefly unconscious).
 A man chases another man who gets into a taxi and begins to drive away, the man on the outside pushes his hand in through the window, runs alongside the car for a moment and the man inside closes the window on his arm.
 We see scenes depicting conditions during the Great Depression: We see homeless people living in squalor in a tent city, children begging on the streets, and people standing in line for food donations.
 Three men find an area where very large herbivorous dinosaurs are gathered, one man walks toward them, and the dinosaurs appear skittish, turn toward them and begin to stampede.
 A man talks about people having been "ripped limb-from-limb" when he finds many bones strewn on the ground. A man talks about another man having stuck a knife through his own heart. A man talks about finding a man floating in water after several days and he rescued him. A man talks about finding a boy stowed away on a ship and that his arm was broken in two places. Men talk about monstrous creatures living on an island named "Skull Island," and that anyone who goes to the island does not come back.
 Cave-dwelling islanders wear bones through their noses and lips and eyebrows. We see monkeys in a zoo picking bugs off of each other. A man steps in animal feces (we hear a squish and see him smear it on a nearby piece of wood). A man gags and vomits when a tray of food is placed in front of him.

LANGUAGE 3 - 1 sexual reference, 3 scatological terms, 8 anatomical terms, 4 mild obscenities, name-calling (idiot, dumb animal), 5 religious profanities, 15 religious exclamations.

SUBSTANCE USE - A man drinks alcohol in several scenes, and a man drinks alcohol from a flask. A woman smokes a cigarette, two men smoke cigarettes, one man smokes cigarettes throughout the movie, and a man smokes a pipe. A man discovers several jars of chloroform.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Fate, movie-making, greed, the Great Depression, gigantic animals, extinct animals, mysteries, adventure, undiscovered places, love, beauty, heroism, myths, trust, celebrity, fame, success, defeat, giving up, self-obsession, working toward a goal at all cost.

MESSAGE - Man's greed brings destruction.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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