When watching Peter Jackson’s remake of King Kong, one can easily feel short-changed. The original classic was made in 1933 and featured one of the most incredible monsters to appear on the silver screen. The mere fact that he measured at slightly over eighteen inches mattered little to the scared populous. At the time, audience members literally ran for their lives, in fear of Kong and what he might do to them. This could never happen now even with all the computer generated imagery available. In fact, were it not for the striking love story at its core, this version would be a complete Xerox of the black-and-white original.

It’s the same mission template as before: down-and-out actress Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) accepts a lead role in the new adventure production from Carl Denham (Jack Black). After a long voyage on the cargo vessel Venture, they discover Skull Island, home to a creature called Kong and a village of nasty natives. At night, the natives capture Ann and offer her to Kong as a ritualistic sacrifice. In response, Denham and a few brave men including screenwriter Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody) journey through the island to rescue her.

Compelling at times, oddly grotesque in others, King Kong works best when Jackson takes his time establishing the growing bond between Kong and Ann. I counted four separate moments in which the film approached the realm of being truly special. Yet, where Jackson makes his biggest misstep occurs during the ponderous first hour. After establishing who the characters are and what they want, he lets his foot off the gas.

In many ways, there are few if any original touches in Jackson’s picture. However, James Newton Howard has come up with an original score, which although it pales next to Max Steiner’s work, features a beautiful love theme.

The creation of Kong, as brought to life by actor Andy Serkis and a plethora of visual effects wizards, is the only true highlight here. Jack Black produces none of his usual charm. As a matter of fact, his work more closely resembles a stand-up comedian trying to play it straight than the character as immortalised by Robert Armstrong. The latter’s sharp delivery (“Holy mackerel, what a show!”) only serves to remind us of what could have been. Adrien Brody feels too vaguely defined as a character. He generates no warmth or tenderness toward Naomi Watts’ Ann, not even when he apparently falls for her. Instead, the screenplay (by Jackson, Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh) replaces essential character moments for Brody with little cameos from the motley crew, which includes Jamie Bell (seen in Billy Elliot) and Andy Serkis.

Naomi Watts (21 Grams) puts as much innate sensitivity into the part as she can – that is to say not very much. With a performance mainly reliant on a green screen counterpart, Watts faces a different challenge – one that involves making the audience unaware of this smoke-and-mirrors technique. For the most part, she achieves her goals, even though the visual effects department steals the limelight.

Certain lines of dialogue are taken directly from the original film with no fresh embellishments. Even the famous Arabian proverb which opens the 1933 production has been stolen. Overall, Jackson’s attempt to rewrite movie history with his remake of King Kong succeeds on the visual level, while the emotional subtext in the screenplay becomes somewhat overwhelmed.

(Released by Universal Pictures and rated “PG-13” for frightening action, violence and some disturbing images.)