Mon ami Joe

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.

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 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 saw a sneak preview of this movie-- the only movie I've been looking forward to in a long time-- and I was not disappointed at all. This is a terrifically entertaining movie that is wholesome enough for the kids but has enough action and darker aspects to interest adults. It was like Zorro in just being an entertaining, fun movie for everyone.

They've done a great job of creating Joe-- he seems very real and interacts very well with the environments. They have also succeeded in giving him a very vividly drawn personality-- you really root for him and it's almost hard to believe that he's just a special effect and not a living being. Kids will fall in LOVE with him-- and the charming notion, presented in the movie, of being best friends with a 15-foot Gorilla.

The first trailers I saw for this made it look like an action movie, but the current trailers make it look like a heartwarming, Free Willy-Type of film. It really does both, but without being too sweet. Many people in my audience cried and cheered at the end. I hope this film does well and I would love to see a sequel. I think Joe will become a very beloved character in kid's minds.

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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