BEFORE: If I'd been thinking properly, I could have fit in that new "Oz" film after "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" - with the tie-in being James Franco talking to CGI creatures, and there's probably a flying monkey or two in there somewhere. Oh well, I didn't think of it, so that ship has sailed for now - anyway, I'm finally in a position to watch films faster than I'm adding them to the list, the cable channels don't seem to be running many new movies, so I've got to make some progress while I can. Linking from "Congo", Delroy Lindo was also in "The Cider House Rules" with Charlize Theron.
THE PLOT: After Mighty Joe Young is brought to America, he escapes and rampages through Hollywood, spurred by tormentors out for revenge.
FOLLOW-UP TO: "King Kong" (2005) (Movie #917)
AFTER: I never saw the classic version of this one, whereas I've seen all three versions of "King Kong", so I wondered how a giant gorilla ended up with a man's name. I guess if you can name a tiger Richard Parker, you can name an ape Joe Young. But he's always come across to me as the poor man's Kong.
And, I figured right. While MJY is much bigger than a normal gorilla, he's nowhere near the size of Kong. Which makes him a lot more realistic, but also less impressive. Kong got to climb the Empire State Building and/or the World Trade Center, and Joe gets what, the Hollywood sign? Yawn.
It's funny how the same people who watch Mighty Joe Young running through the wilderness at top speed, destroying three truckloads of animal poachers, make the decision that he really belongs in Los Angeles, for his own safety. Right. Because when you take a giant ape away from the environment he's familiar with, where he takes down any human threat with ease, you really need to put him in a confined space in the middle of a crowded metropolis where he can be taunted mercilessly by former poachers and zoo patrons. What could possibly go wrong?
"Hello, and thank you for coming to our fund-raising gala. Please, have a cocktail and some bacon-wrapped shrimp. What's that, you say? Giant gorilla destroying the buffet table? Yes, well, here at the Conservation Animal Sanctuary Haven, we do believe in a cage-free environment, and please make your check out to our initials, C.A.S.H. - thanks, gotta go, bye!"
You can take it as a watershed moment when you compare "Congo", released in 1995, and this film, released three years later. Somewhere in between was the point where CGI took over and became the standard for effects, or at least became cost-effective enough for widespread use. "Congo" used mostly people in ape suits, and it showed, but for a single, giant gorilla, CGI was really the best way to go.
Also starring Bill Paxton, David Paymer (last seen in "The Five-Year Engagement"), Rade Serbedzija, Regina King, Lawrence Pressman, Naveen Andrews (last seen in "Rollerball"), Christian Clemenson (last seen in "J. Edgar"), with a cameo from Ray Harryhausen.
RATING: 4 out of 10 tranquilizer darts
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