Disney's latest live-action fantasy film for families, Mighty Joe Young, is not only a special-effects laden remake of the 1949 RKO original, it bears more than a passing resemblance to another simian classic, H.A. Rey's popular "Curious George" books. Curious George, you will remember, was a happy little monkey stolen from his native African land by the Man in the Yellow Hat and taken to a zoo in the big city. During the course of his adventures, he becomes intensely curious (naturally) of something that is bound to get him into trouble and then does something very naughty, only to redeem himself by the end of the story with an act of unselfish kindness.
The plot-lines between the books from this classic children's series and this dazzling movie remake are remarkably similar. The pivotal character, Mighty Joe Young, is not a little monkey though, but a rare gorilla that has grown to an impressive two tons and fifteen feet of fuzzy, friendly fun. Both simians share a fondness for play, and in Mighty Joe Young's case, it is a penchant for hide and seek. Zoologist Gregg O'Hara or the movie's Man in the Yellow Hat, is the always affable Bill Paxton, recently of A Simple Plan, who not only doesn't wear a yellow hat, but is a far better sketched character than his predecessor. Working for the acquisition department of a splendid wildlife conservancy in California, he follows his hunches to the mysterious African mountain that Mighty Joe calls home. Through a series of fantastic and sometime humorous mishaps, O'Hara convinces Joe's caretaker, Dr. Jill Young played naturally and convincingly by Charlize Theron, that her gentle gorilla friend needs more adequate protection from nasty poachers. In fact, the same poachers who killed both Joe's and Jill Young's mother, Ruth, twelve years ago. Not to give too much of the story away, Joe does end up in California where he does a few really naughty things and redeems himself in the end with a great act of, you guessed it, unselfish kindness. Besides their size and species, the only other substantial difference between George and Joe is that the gorilla is far less mischievous and only prone to messing things up when provoked by the bad guys. However, being dramatically oversized, Joe's ability to leave destruction in his wake is far more extensive, and when he does, several all-terrain vehicles and a fancy fund-raising party are impressively crashed, literally.
For a movie of this genre the acting performances are surprisingly serviceable. Newcomer Charlize Theron is the most pleasant and sympathetic of all the characters, and the bad guys are quintessentially and misguidedly evil without being overly stereotypical. The film's real star is the special effects, particularly the creation and manipulation of Joe. He is at once lovable and dangerous, but at all times extraordinarily life-like. The plot is predictably predictable, especially if you've seen the original to which this new one maintains a modicum of affinity, but on a grander, more exciting scale. Best of all, the film possess very few objectionable elements. On the one hand, the action, particularly in the beginning hunt sequence, might frighten only the very young. On the other, heavy-handed environmentalist rhetoric is kept to a minimum. If you aren't currently among the group banning Disney for their various policies, why not take your whole family to this film. Make sure you get a gorilla-sized popcorn.
Steven Stuart Baldwin (3/21/99)
