Who payed the critics

Such a frustrating disappointment

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

This time I think the remake is fine. I thought the original was lightweight at best, being a kind of King Kong sequel. People were enamored with gorillas in those days, not because they were endangered but because they were simply interesting. In this one, the bad guys are poachers who kill a woman and a gorilla. Once the young woman begins to protect Joe, she and Joe become their target. As Joe gets bigger and bigger his stock rises. The positive about this film is that the special effects and Joe's being is so much more convincing that the stop action stuff of the forties. Of course, that doesn't mean the original is less worthy; it's just that things get cleaned up here. This is a good movie and doesn't beg comparisons.

The main problems I had with this is not Joe himself, but sadly, the overall story as well as the acting and effects. Despite the implausibility of a gorilla like Joe, he's the only character with any redeeming quality and he's not even real. The 1940's version with the Harryhousen effects are far better than this uninspired outing. The underlying message that this movie and others like it love to convey is 1- that animals are still on this earth solely for our amusement, regardless of the well meaning intentions of a few, and 2-never underestimate the blind stupidity of people in large groups.Basically an oversized ape is taken from the only habitat he's ever known and where he's felt safe all his life and thrown into a fake man-made enclosure on the other side of the world for tourists to gawk at and the media to milk until the next flavour of the month presents itself. During a gala event where Joe is to be displayed in front of high society types, things take a turn for the worse and as usual Joe, like any other wild animal, reacts violently,however as several people with more money than sense got hurt in the ensuing melee the typical consensus is to lock him away to be euthanized. To wrap up, Joe is freed from prison, the poachers trying to kill him are defeated, Joe redeems himself by saving a child from a fire and he ends up roaming free again back in Africa. It's a very syrupy and artificial and kids won't see that it's full of holes but this just isn't enjoyable on any level for anyone over 10 years old. There's lots of silly and deliberate attempts at generating cheap laughs whether it be a sports car getting trampled or a Mercedes getting trashed. It's all very obvious as is the teary premature death of Joe, which even blind Freddy could see coming. A box office bomb if ever there was and it's not hard to see why. A total miss.

I wasn't sure whether I would like Mighty Joe Young. I did see it once with my family beforehand and didn't think much of it. When I did decide to give it a chance again, I am glad I did. I wasn't expecting a perfect family movie, and while this movie is very dark, it also manages to be quite sweet too. I will admit that the beginning is very dark and intense even for a family movie. I will also admit that the plot is very formulaic and that the villains are rather cartoony.What made this movie though for me was Joe. He was designed superbly and acted very convincingly. Even for an ape, I found him quite adorable, after seeing films like Congo where they scared me so much. Other pluses are the superb special effects and the splendid scenery. Not to mention the lovely music score. The acting was a mixed bag; Charlize Theron was gorgeous as Jill, and Bill Paxton was very good as Gregg. The supporting actors ranged from good to so-so. The relationship between Joe and Jill was very very convincing and sweet, well to me it was. And I know the ending was more King Kong with a happy ending, but I will confess I cried. Maybe it was because I loved Joe so much, I have a habit of empathising with characters that I grow to love.Overall, it is a decent family movie. It mayn't appeal to you first time, but if given the chance as it did with me, it may grow on you. 7/10 Bethany Cox

This movie is basically King Kong for little kids. It's about a giant Gorilla who is in love with a woman who is brought to the states and runs wild through the streets. The only difference is Joe doesn't want to hurt people. It even remakes the famous climb on the empire state building with a family fun replacement, a Ferris Wheel to save a little kid. This is a great family film with great effects, great acting, and great audio. Any family with any young children will adore this movie. It is a very very good movie for Disney to make. Highly recommended for families.