Mon ami Joe

I can recall, though not very clearly, seeing the original 1949 version of "Mighty Joe Young" in the theater when I was a boy. The 1998 remake to me is better in every way. The special effects which place the giant gorilla among people, or chasing trucks, is very realistic, as is the sound track.

The story starts in the jungle where gorilla hunter "Strasser" shoots and kills the baby gorilla's mom, and Jill Young's (Carlize Theron) mom is also killed. Jill and the young gorilla become friends and they grow up in virtual anonymity. In a stroke of good casting for a very small part, Linda Purl, who plays the mother, looks a lot like Theron.

Many years later, when Paxton's character shows up, hunting wild species for blood samples, the capture of a big cat enrages "Joe" and he jumps out of the trees. That is a remarkable point in the film because, with a good sound system with subwoofer, the room literally shakes. And it continues as they case Joe in trucks.

Jill is persuaded that Joe will be safer when transported to Los Angeles with his own habitat, and she agrees. The evil Strasser shows up, enrages Joe, who breaks out and runs. In the sweet climax, he climbs a tall ferris wheel to rescue a small child, survives, and eventually is put in a proper place for his safety.

Most of the charm of this film is during the first half, in the jungle, with Joe and Jill growing up, then the discovery of the adult Joe. In a small part as the hunting organizer Paxton hires, Nuveen Andrews is just terrific, his delivery, his body language. And, of course, Charlize Theron, who reminds me so much of my daughter, Karen, is just perfect as Joe's caretaker and friend.

I rate this version of "Mighty Joe Young" a solid "8" of 10.

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.

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.

My Take: Fine special effects and decent performances make for a passable remake.

A toned-down remake of the 1949 monster movie (not that the original was violent or so) by Disney, MIGHTY JOE YOUNG is enjoyably pleasant nonetheless. There's a lot of enjoyable moments here to entice kids and adults alike. It's fun, without being too loud, too lumbering and too overproduced unlike other summer affair of the time. It could use more, but enough just seems to be enough. There's a good dosage of fine adventure movie elements. There's action, adventure, humor and even romance.

The romance is created between two of the lead characters. Bill Paxton as an explorer named Gregg O'Hara and a Charlize Theron as Jill Young, a daughter of a late famous Jane Goodall-inspired scientist. There's chemistry between those two, even if it's not entirely developed. It's also a simple boy-likes-the-girl chemistry, but it works well and I bought it. Ask for the adventure, there are numerous action scenes which takes place both in the jungle in even in the city, which shows a scenes directly derived but not entirely similarly to the scene from KING KONG. The special effects by Rick Baker, who actually started doing apes in a somewhat cheesy outcome during the 70's remake of KING KONG, are fine here in the film. There's a convincing use of blue screen and the typical man-in-a-suit technique that actually is less evident here.

Director Ron Underwood (TREMORS) brings a lot of excitement in this familiar territory. The film cannot escape the multitudes of clichés that marred this old genre to the ground. Some things about MIGHTY JOE YOUNG are familiar, as a toned-down kids flick. I've learned the lesson before, there's no one that harshly gets hurt in this film, except the bad guys who must get their just desserts in the end. But the film is lively and enjoyable enough for me to recommend. This is decent family entertainment.

Rating: *** out of 5.

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.