King Kong (2005)

Most people think so. 77% of audiences gave it a thumbs up, by Google's archived audience score. Critics agree, scoring it 82%.

In 1933 New York, an overly ambitious movie producer coerces his cast and hired ship crew to travel to mysterious Skull Island, where they encounter Kong, a giant ape who is immediately smitten with the leading lady. Wikipedia ↗

King Kong is a 2005 epic adventure film directed by Peter Jackson, a lavish remake of the 1933 classic. Naomi Watts stars as Ann Darrow, a struggling Depression-era actress who is recruited by filmmaker Carl Denham, played by Jack Black, for a mysterious voyage to the uncharted Skull Island, where they encounter Kong — a 25-foot silverback gorilla who is the island's apex predator and last of his species. Jackson, who had cited the original King Kong as the film that inspired him to become a filmmaker, poured his passion into a three-hour epic that expanded the original's narrative and emotional scope dramatically.

The relationship between Ann and Kong was portrayed with remarkable emotional nuance through Andy Serkis's performance-capture work and WETA Digital's animation, creating a creature capable of genuine tenderness, humor, and heartbreak. The Skull Island sequences — featuring stampeding brontosauruses, giant insects, and a triple V-Rex battle — were among the most technically impressive and thrilling action sequences of their era. King Kong earned $550 million worldwide on a $207 million budget.