This is Naomi Watts' movie.

Yes, Jack Black is perfect in his role. And Adrien Brody tons better than I expected.

Kong was digitally impressive as well, although with sporadic moments of uncharacteristic movement or blurring.

But it is the character Ann Darrow that we watch. The bravest person on the screen, the only one with any wits, any compassion. I would risk giant bugs and bats to save her.

Save her? Hell, I want to be Ann Darrow.

Now, regarding the movie, not too much to complain about. The periodicity for early in the past century is great (although I doubt that they had Vibram soles for boots back then, but I could be wrong.)

Regarding the bugs... too many, too often. Likewise for the tyrannosaurs. They could have cropped out a bunch of the horror scenes with the indigenous wildlife of Skull Island and had nothing but beneficial effect on the movie.

Not to mention the usual action film faux pas of having nearly indestructable human beings (if you're one of the main characters, that is). Fling anybody around like a ragdoll like Kong does to Ann and their brain will soon be separated from their spinal cord. Not to mention nobody walks away from a 30-foot fall, much less one of several hundred feet.

I don't care how many rocks and vines you bounce off on the way down.

And the freighter is way too small to haul Kong halfway around the world, much less carry all the men that supposedly come ashore with firearms. Much less continue to function with a giant, hungry ape on board after losing 17 members of the crew.

And you notice how Sumatra seems to be just a short sail from New York City? Without even a mention of either the Panama or Suez canals?

But the big irritant, which the wife also noticed was...

Ms. Darrow somehow manages to climb the spire of the Empire State building, hanging by a broken ladder over 100 floors of empty space and then scrambling up on the windswept apex...

While wearing high heels.

And no, they're not strapped on.