I was, and I remain, one of the few people on this earth willing to state for the record that I thought the 2005 Peter Jackson version of King Kong was terrific. Indeed, I’ve long been of the opinion that most people who have condemned that picture didn’t actually see it. It’s long and self-indulgent, yes; but it’s staggering as a piece of cinematic craft—with an absolutely gorgeous recreation of Depression-era New York City. The middle section, on the South Seas island where natives and prehistoric creatures interact with a giant gorilla, has a knockout series of chilling sequences. It flags toward the end, with Kong in the Big Apple, but all in all it’s an achievement.