Mon ami Joe

Mighty Joe Young is terrific family fare, and one of the better movies of 1998. It is based on the immortal classic from 1947 of the same name about a young woman and her faithful 20-foot tall, 2,000-pound gorilla named Joe.

Great special effects featuring Joe are the real highlight of the film, especially the animatronics and CGI which truly bring Joe to life.

There are also good performances, especially from Charlize Theron as the young woman, Jill, and Bill Paxton, fresh from Titanic, as the scientist who loves her.

But, the real star is the title character, the Mighty Joe, who brings a wonderfully gentle screen presence, and is the true hero of the film.

Highly recommended for children of all ages.

A group of poachers kill a large gorilla and a female zoologist. The gorilla's baby escapes with the woman's orphaned baby and the two grow up together. Tears later the gorilla (Joe) and the girl (Jill) have grown up – Joe himself is abnormally large but is the target of poachers. Zoologist Gregg O'Hara stumbles upon the two on a wildlife visit to the jungle and convinces Jill to bring Joe to a sanctuary in California. However, despite the safety, the threat to Joe has not vanished.

I ignored this on video and at the cinema but on TV I gave it a go for the same of the kids. The first thing that strikes you is how much of a rip-off of every monster movie you've ever seen – from King Kong onwards. All the clichés are there and the characters are little more than cardboard cut outs at times. However it is still good fun and all delivered with energy that will keep the kids happy. The film may not go anywhere that you don't expect but it has funny moments and also moments that are quite tense and exciting.

Of the cast Joe stands out. His facial expression, depth of understanding and emotional range may be a little unlikely but he looks good. The effects may occasionally show the joins where Joe interacts with physical objects but for the vast majority he is impressive – for the most part I forgot it was effects and totally bought into him being real, that's a sign of good effects. Paxton maybe takes it all a bit seriously but does well, Theron is a bit too street smart for a girl who grew up with a gorilla but she passes. Support like King and Paymer are underused and simply become more examples of `good Americans'. If you're being cynical you could say that the two leads are WASP heroes and that King (black) and Paymer (Jewish) were there to cover bases! This view is a little supported however by the hackneyed casting of white South African and Eastern European types as the bad guys – their roles are caricatures at best and the actors look embarrassed at times.

Overall it's enjoyable. It's not great – the plot is flawed, the acting is so-so, it borrows from every big ape movie that has gone before and it'll never be remembered years from now as a great film. But it's good for kids without boring adults. The effects are good and, though you'll forget it quickly, it's fun while it's on.

Mighty Joe Young is a big, big gorilla who gets time in L.A. escaping poachers who are after him in his home hill in Africa. This is a remake of a remake of King Kong (1933), which was made in 1949 as the original Mighty Joe Young.

This latest version is a remarkable computer and animatronic invention, justly nominated for this year's Academy Awards. He really is whiz bang and totally believable as a creature on the screen.

His best friends are Jill played by the very attractive Charlize Theron and Gregg played by Bill Paxton in a pretty light weight film for him considering some of his previous films (One False Move, A Simple Plan).

But take note too of Naveen Andrews who plays the screwball jungle tour guide. He was remarkable in The English Patient and Kama Sutra. Oh well. The bills have to be paid.

Mighty Joe Young is a Disney film aimed squarely at the fairly young, complete with the fairly gruesome bits that today's TV bred ankle biters demand. So what's in it for the oldies.

Well there's Charlize Theron who's pretty gorgeous. And then there's a truly spectacular scene when big Joe climbs up a burning (yes burning!) Ferris Wheel at a L.A. amusement park at night and rescues a little boy.

But my favourite bit was Joe violently wrecking a car bit by bit because the car alarm is sounding. His self satisfied grin as he sat on the quietened nuisance was one that made me wish that I could also rock Ms Theron to sleep.

I was anxious to see this movie as I had seen the original in 1949 and I was not disappointed. This is one of those rare instances that a remake was okay. This originally was an RKO Radio Picture and the new updated RKO Pictures logo at the beginning was a great tribute. Also it was very fitting to have Terry Moore, the original star, and Ray Harryhausen, the man who made the special effects in the first one, to have a cameo. A lot of critics did not like this movie but my 3 grandchildren did. Why not have movie critics the same age as the targeted audience, such as having kid critics and women critics and senior citizen critics to give a real reaction of what they like and don't like.

I remember watching this film when I was a kid not just once but multiple times and being enthused and affected every time, I was so hooked by Joe and his dreamy eyes and Charlize made me love the jungle but what still fascinates me is how I still remember every detail and how I felt while watching it, and when someone asks me about Charlize this is the first film that jumps to my mind, I guess this is the kind of movie that sticks in your head with its simplicity and purity, such a joyful movie. I guarantee it'll make you laugh, cry, be angry and be very excited when the villain gets what he deserves. the most important message i got from it was to love nature and protect it with my own life because nature reserves our humanity