The original
was no documentary.
But making movies
is a balance act
between suspending belief
and entertainment.
A good filmmaker
has a sense for it. Bad ones,
like Jackson, do not.
Peter Jackson is probably the best director around - he is hardly a hack.
This version of King Kong is far more realistic than previous versions - in fact, the realism may be hurting the box office take as it is probably too intense for smaller children.
Of course there are some parts of the movie that one could criticize for realism if they put their mind to it, but you could do that with any movie. It's a movie about a giant gorilla - it's not like Jackson is remaking Othello.