Ebert likes it

Four stars for King Kong.

The result is a surprisingly involving and rather beautiful movie -- one that will appeal strongly to the primary action audience, and also cross over to people who have no plans to see "King Kong" but will change their minds the more they hear. I think the film even has a message, and it isn't that beauty killed the beast. It's that we feel threatened by beauty, especially when it overwhelms us, and we pay a terrible price when we try to deny its essential nature and turn it into a product, or a target. This is one of the year's best films.

The previews looked a little freaky to me -- I'm squeamish about the big spiders and scorpions and whatnot. But it sounds so good I could be persuaded to change my mind. And I have a sneaking fondness for Jack Black, who just looks like a big teddy bear.