'Mighty Joe Young' a tame King Kong for the kids
'Mighty Joe Young' a tame King Kong for the kids
JAKARTA (JP): How would you describe a film about a 20-foot
gorilla running amok in an American metropolis? King Kong.
An "ape", excuse the pun, of the classic King Kong movies is
what audiences will probably be saying after they see Mighty Joe
Young.
This film is by no stretch of the imagination an original.
And technology seems to be the only reason Disney felt they
had to remake Ernest B. Schoedsack's 1949 stop-motion movie.
Apart from the character twist at the end, everything about
this film is predictably boring.
The story centers around a gorilla who by some unexplained
genetic fluke grows to be 20-foot tall.
Just like real life, the manner of this wonderful beast
suggests it is a dangerously ferocious animal. However, it
instantly becomes a tame cuddly toy in the hands of Jill Young,
who has known the animal all her life.
Jill, played by Charlize Theron who recently costarred with Al
Pacino and Keanu Reeves in The Devil's Advocate, does all she can
to protect Joe from poachers.
Then along comes zoologist Gregg O'Hara, played by Bill Paxton
of Titanic fame, who ventures into the Pangani Mountains of
deepest Africa to find out for himself if the rumors about a
giant gorilla are true.
When O'Hara finally meets with Young, he convinces her that
the safest place in the world for Joe is not in the jungles of
Africa, but the urban sprawl of Los Angeles.
We all know what is coming next. It's been on the widescreen
often enough in the past few years, with The Lost World and
Godzilla to name a few.
Once in the city of angels, Joe is placed in a special cage in
an animal preserve.
Surprise, surprise -- and really the whole film has been
leading up to this -- Joe escapes and runs amok in downtown L.A.
as security forces slowly circle in to seal the gorilla's fate.
But in typical Hollywood tug-at-the-heart-strings fashion,
director Ron Underwood dishes out a dose of tear-jerking emotion
for the ending.
Animatronics
Kudos should go to special effects producer Rick Baker for
creating such a lifelike and fun gorilla.
The childlike expressions on Joe's face almost make us forget
the words "computer animation", "animatronics" and "prosthetics".
Baker was the wizard behind the gorillas in Gorillas in the
Mist.
But the weak plot and the obvious "borrowing" from King Kong
quickly brings us back to reality and reminds us that it is all
computer-generated.
Which is not to say that movies laden with special effects do
not work on an emotional level, because some do. Just look at
Jurassic Park.
The difference comes down to the basic element of any movie:
originality and creativity of the story.
Substance and noteworthy acting aside, kids and those with a
sympathetic heart should latch on to this movie.
Cute furry things are always an attraction and good for the
usual round of "oohs" and "ahhs". The mayhem as Joe runs down the
L.A. freeway should also be enough to just satisfy the young
preteen boy who loved Godzilla so much.
For movie buffs, this remake comes nowhere near to surpassing
the 1949 original, which was not that great to begin with.
That movie was not presumptuous nor appeared to have any
pretense of trying to outdo King Kong. And while it is no major
motion picture milestone, it should at least be recognized for
its effort.
The 1990s version relies too much on trying to make Joe as
lifelike as possible as its anchor. It misfires by trying to draw
emotion not from a strong script or character acting, but the
nuances of a computer-generated image. (mds)