Pssst, want to check out Mighty Joe Young in our new look?
Information
- Year
- 1998
- Runtime
- 114 min.
- Director
- Ron Underwood
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Thriller, Family
- Rating *
- 5.6
- Votes *
- 21,726
- Checks
- 3,301
- Favs
- 32
- Dislikes
- 84
- Favs/checks
- 1.0% (1:103)
- Favs/dislikes
- 1:3
Top comments
-
Sk1337
One of my favorites when i was a kid, just saw it for the first time in 15 years. The special effects still holds up and the story is very sweet. 3 years 4 months ago -
Siskoid
1998's Mighty Joe Young remake is a Disneyfied shadow of the 1949 original, that despite using the lessons learned by Jurassic Park to create its creature (and the giant ape does look good, a mix of physical and digital effects), suffers from entirely too earnest heroes. That is to say, Bill Paxton and Charlize Theron are cartoon heroes whose supporting case have unmotivated character turns, up against thoroughly evil cartoon villains that weren't part of the original RKO film. Good or bad, the characters don't have any proper motivation other than their "alignment", making for some pretty syrupy sequences. The story is brought into the present day by making it more about animal conservation than putting an ape on the entertainment circuit (albeit with similar results), that present day very much the world of 1998 (Charlize has a pager and a glorified extra, seeing Joe, exclaims "Phat!"). What's really unfortunate is the addition of evil poachers with a link to Jill and Joe's orphaning, who track Joe down to America with a convoluted plan to get their hands on him, which then turns the picture into a sustained action chase with an animal in such peril that it makes the kiddification of the characters (and all the stuff with young kids going oooh, ahhhh, even as the violence happens around them) rather pointless - this is too intense for younger kids. Tonally dissonant, with a formulaic story thant gets worse and worse (nothing past the bit where Joe drags some jeeps around was worth it for me). 4 years 6 months ago -
IreneAdler
I like this one, it's very sweet. Great for children, but I like it a lot as well. Nice cast in general, Charlize Theron is so charming and great, cute story. 10 years 7 months ago