Mighty Joe Young

In yesterday’s review of 1969’s Rascal, I noted that one can sometimes be pleasantly surprised when going into a new movie with no prior knowledge of it. The pleasure in discovering something to appreciate in a new or obscure film is one of the great joys for movie lovers. Unfortunately, often the opposite reaction occurs, and one finds oneself sitting through an utterly predictable and unmemorable movie awaiting the end credits to roll. In that spirit, I give you 1998’s Mighty Joe Young.

God Meg, you got a lot of beef.  Where do you get all this beef?

A remake of 1949’s already underwhelming attempt at recapturing the success of King Kong, the film stars a youthful Charlize Theron as Jill Young, orphan of a famed gorilla-specialist who was (accidentally) murdered by poachers the same night as the titular gorilla’s mother was shot. The sequence that starts the film, enacting the poachers attack and killing of both a mother gorilla and mother human, is handled extremely delicately. Compared to another evil-poacher film I reviewed recently, A Far Off Place, this attack is definitely one aimed at a more family-friendly audience; both portray poachers as over-the-top villains, but here it’s presented in a far more cartoonish manner. The tone for the rest of the film is set by the laughable dialogue shouted out by the villainous Andrei Strasser (portrayed by Croatian actor Rade Šerbedžija) after little Joe retaliates for his mother’s killing: “Oh! That little demon took off my thumb and trigger finger! Monstrule! Monstrule! ... I will kill this little monkey! I swear I will kill him!”

I don't always kill gorillas, but when I do, I grow a head out of my back.

Upon reading the names of screenwriters Mark Rosenthal and Lawrence Konner appear, I knew I’d seen those names before; sure enough, the pair was responsible for the script of that paragon of bad cinema, 1989’s Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. However, they were also involved in writing 1991’s underrated Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, and their debut script was 1985’s awesomer-than-you-will-ever-know The Legend Of Billie Jean, so I suppose we could place Mighty Joe Young somewhere in the middle of the team’s rankings. Likewise, director Ron Underwood made a name for himself in the early ‘90s with such crowd-pleasers as Tremors and City Slickers; but after this film he directed the infamous Eddie Murphy vehicle The Adventures Of Pluto Nash. Since then he’s mostly focused on genre television direction.

Just wait until I get that callback for Monster...

Also starring in the film is science-fiction cinema’s favorite panicky co-star, Bill Paxton, as conservationist and love-interest Gregg O’Hara. I was surprised when Paxton ambled on-screen, as I didn’t realize he featured in any Disney films (discounting 1993’s Tombstone, released through their Hollywood Pictures label,) and I couldn’t help but chuckle when he appeared. Then I remembered the actor had just recently (and suddenly) passed away, and felt bad. Any performance by the late actor, I realized, is welcomed. Though I always preferred Paxton as a colorful second-banana to his turns as straight-man lead, there was certainly nothing wrong with his reading here – especially considering the material he had to work with. I have to say, however, that other than the length of his hair, Paxton’s acting in Mighty Joe Young is all but indistinguishable from his role in 1996’s Twister; one need only to replace any dialogue mentioning “tornado” from that film with “gorilla” to have an idea of the performance here.

Upside down - Boy, you turn me
Inside out - And round and round

The real star of the film is the gorilla himself – brought to life by a combination of an actor (John Alexander) in an elaborate monkey suit, green-screen work and digital effects. Though not as sophisticated as other effects in the following decades, Joe is a convincing enough presence to be believed in the context of the film. What’s harder to believe is that in the twelve years following the events in the film’s opening, Theron’s Jill Young was able to keep the giant gorilla a secret from the outside world; especially when Paxton and his team are so easily able to lure him out by making a little noise at the edge of the jungle. Also hard to swallow are many scenes after Joe is transported to a California nature preserve, put into captivity to protect him from poachers. Despite these steps (or, more accurately, because of them - the poachers only discover him after his stateside arrival is covered by the news media) - Joe is visited by goons in Strasser’s employ, and taunted with traumatically memory-inducing noisemakers. Joe goes ape-shit (pun intended,) and begins ripping up trees, water pipes, and anything else he can grab, while the poachers slip away – apparently only there to psyche the monkey out. The zoologists only then appear, of course, and are left to wonder what could’ve happened to upset the gorilla; they must continually rely on Jill’s soothing presence to calm the creature. Are we to believe that this rare and famous 2,000 pound gorilla has been put in an enclosure with no security and no cameras watching him!?!

Joey, Joey, Joey ... you have been a bad monkey!

Anyway, Joe eventually escapes the preserve to wander around the Los Angeles area and cause very minor havoc, covering an awful lot of Southern California territory undetected. Various slack-jawed onlookers watch in awe and surprise as the Mighty Joe eventually thunders his way down Hollywood Boulevard. After jostling a jeep full of valley-girls, one is heard to exclaim “That was so cool!” A young African-American man stares as Joe beats his chest, and exclaims “Whoa … phat!” Joe climbs atop the roof of Grauman's Chinese Theatre (visibly showing Michael Bay’s Armageddon on the marquee, in a shameless plug,) and the gathered crowds love him! While police and SWAT teams make passing attempts to bring him down (there are numerous shots of authorities raising their weapons, and Theron and Paxton running up to scream “Noo!!"), Strasser follows and decides he’d rather shoot Jill than the gorilla – because Evil. After exclaiming “Goodbye, Jill … meet your mother... in Hell!” Strasser is grabbed by a vengeful Joe, who then throws the bloodthirsty poacher through a billboard and into a large power-transformer, killing him. Damn! While this would surely lead to the gorilla being put down right away, Joe is spared to then save a child from a burning Ferris wheel, and all is right with the world.

I can see the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster from up here!

Though the Mighty Joe himself is an impressive achievement and the lead actors (as well as a strong supporting cast, villainous poachers notwithstanding,) are solid, there’s nothing much to recommend here. Inoffensive as the film is, it’s hard to forgive the silly dialogue and tired “White saviors in Africa” theme. Released during the Christmas season of 1998 (when the children could see The Prince of Egypt or A Bug’s Life, and parents could see Shakespeare In Love or The Thin Red Line,) Mighty Joe Young made $50.6 million on a $90 million budget, clearly not connecting with audiences at the time. It’s hard to imagine it doing so at any time in the future, either.