Like the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, the big ape in Mighty Joe Young is probably the only reason for anyone to see the film. All the evidence suggests that making Joe a crowd-pleasing, sympathetic, 15-foot ton o' love was all anyone involved in the film cared about...and they couldn't even get that right. They begin by making him an orphan, befriended by the orphaned daughter (Charlieze Theron) of a kindly anthropologist who accompanies Joe to an American nature preserve for protection before bad guys butt in and inevitably make him do something terrible and send him on a rampage. The film can only work as a story if Joe is a sensitive, misunderstood stranger in a strange land, like a hirsute E.T. Unfortunately, there's no internal logic to Joe's actions, only the logic of whatever will produce a cheap laugh or an even cheaper tear. Even Joe's situational morality--he ruthlessly dispatches villains more like James Bond than the furry hero of a Disney film--makes it hard to side with him. Of course, none of this will matter to plenty of viewers, since the film sports family adventure, a few lively chases and some whoop-it-up destruction on Hollywood Boulevard (some of which is even well-staged). All the filmmakers needed to do to hang on to the rest of us was make it easy to root for Joe. Instead, they make the only character that matters an unstable, ill-defined murderer. Say it ain't so, Joe. Not recommended. (S. Renshaw)
Mighty Joe Young
(Walt Disney, 114 min., PG, avail. Mar. 23, $24.99) Vol. 14, Issue 2
Mighty Joe Young
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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