Wow. I basically completely agree with Fozzie here. The work on Joe himself is soooooo good, I can't imagine not seeing it on the big screen, but the addition of villians and some of the political correctness was just... well unneeded. I love Paxton and Theron and Paymer... ixnay on everyone else. But overall... A definate matinee, don't dare miss it though at matinee, cause you'll kick yourself later for not watching Rick Baker and DreamQuest's best work EVER. STUNNING WORK! Had they been a bit smarter, this thing could have played for months and months. Perhaps if Rick Baker and Peter Jackson and Universal got together on that damn KING KONG flick it could all tie together.
Woka-Woka! Thank you, Harry, thank you, and thank YOU! This is Fozzie Bear, the funniest bear to ever wear a hat coming at you with a review of Disney's big Christmas Day release MIGHTY JOE YOUNG, seen as a special bonus of the Chiller Theater show a few weeks back (which you were kind enough to alert most of us to. I should point out, as I'm sure you're aware, that this is not a "Test Screening". The film is finished, done, and in the can, and that there were no Disney flunkies trying to guage audience reactions). Now, when ever any mentions the classic movie monsters, no one ever mentions MIGHTY JOE YOUNG. Perhaps this is because Joe Young wasn't big enough to be percieved as a "monster", or that his personality was so kind that it wasn't monsterous enough to place him in the ranks of Kong and Godzilla, but to me, Mr. Joe Young will forever take a place alongside those titans, if only because as a child, MIGHTY JOE YOUNG was always aired on NYC's WWOR (Ch. 9) as part! of a two-day Turkey Day marathon of monster movies. Thursday (Thanksgiving) was always KONG, SON OF KONG, and MIGHTY JOE YOUNG, with Friday followed by GODZILLA VS. THE SMOG MONSTER, GODZILLA VS. MEGALON, and some other mixed Godzilla film from the WWOR library. They stopped doing this about a decade ago, but those marathons will always live in my memory as part of my Thanksgiving ritual, and when I have kids, I will some Thanksgiving day sit down with them and show them KING KONG, SON OF KONG, and MIGHTY JOE YOUNG. And rest assured, it will be the original of MIGHTY JOE YOUNG, because the remake doesn't quite cut it.
In many ways, there's nothing wrong with this version of MIGHTY JOE YOUNG. Technically, it's a marvel, with the penultimate achivement of Rick Baker's amazing career, Joe Young himself. How many Oscars does this man have? Add another one to the list, because this is INCREDIBLE, both digitally and in live-action form. (Kudos, also to Dream Quest Images, who did the visuals) So often, it is difficult to tell which is which, so close to life this creation is. It is stunning. So stunning, in fact, that the film surrounding it is all the more disappointing for not supporting its lead. It's not the fault of the actors, all of whom are fine. (Extra credit for casting Linda Purl as Charlize Theron's mother. They're dead ringers!) Nothing wrong with Ron Underwood's direction, either. The film keeps moving and can even solicit a couple of emotional moments. Problem lies, as it usually does, with the script, written by Laurence Konner and Mark Rosenthal, who have given us su!
ch well-written (Insert scarasm here) films such as JEWEL OF THE NILE, SUPERMAN 4, DESPERATE HOURS, and FOR LOVE OR MONEY. In other words, why do they still find work? Even if you haven't seen the original (and if not, better fucking get yourself to a video store now and rent it) you'll know how this ends by watching the first five minutes. The major addition is a subplot involving a pair of evil white hunters, played by the actor who was the lead villain in THE SAINT (sorry, don't remember his name) and Peter Firth. When you see them hunting for Gorillas in the first scene, you know that they ne there in the last scene, trying to hunt down Joe, this time for having taken off a couple of the lead villain's fingers. It just gets preposterous as it keeps going and it proves that this story was good enough when set in the Forties, it doesn't need updating.
As for the audience's reaction, it was full of monster fans (some with kids) who seemed to enjoy themselves (there was some applause at the end) and got a real big kick out of the Ray Harryhuasen/Terry Moore cameo (as great as it is, it's also the most awkward bit in the film, kinda stopping things for a moment). And actually, I'm sure that this will be a big hit with kids, most of whom have never seen the original. I'll even go so far as to say that it will do well with kids and families, although it won't quite be a huge smash, either (I won't give a number). But it isn't a film that I'll cherish, like the original is. The mastery of Joe Young himself is almost enough to make me reccomend 1998's MIGHTY JOE YOUNG, but the laziness of the scripting is more than enough to warn you away from it.
Many Thanks,
Fozzie Bear
