Jill Young and Joe were already bonded before the incident which saw both of their mothers killed before their all too young eyes, but the joined experience saw them instantly lifelong friends.
Over the years both Jill and Joe grew. Jill into a beautiful shapely woman (Charlize Theron) and Joe into a twelve foot tall ape weighing in at over a tonne.
Perhaps I should also point out that Joe was an ape all along?
It is indeed the scourge of Africa that their native animals are coveted worldwide, causing the more desperate and nefarious to consider them as valued currency, whether alive or dead. A twelve foot tall ape is a whole pile of potential moolah.
With wealthy poachers closing in and Joe certainly too large to continue hiding behind small shrubs, Jill rails against her natural instinct and submits to the offer of assistance from Greg (Bill Paxton) the handsome American allegedly backed up by a top class well funded sanctuary.
The news of a giant ape grabs headlines the world over, including in Africa, where the poachers watch on in frustration. Will this film end here with Joe happy and safe, and Jill having the free time to simply fall into Greg’s arms? Of course it won’t.
Mighty Joe Young was made by Ron Underwood, the director of Tremors – with more money and less of the creativity that made that film an immortal. Once in America the film is no longer about a giant ape, but becomes a sheep, mindlessly following the tropes of so many such films before it.
The film’s finale demands ridiculous failings of security at every level, and more stupidity than an episode of The Real Housewives of Dopesville. And if that isn’t enough to put you off the redemption sequence that closes the film is frankly insulting.
Mighty Joe Young might have King Kong sized aspirations, but the entertainment outcome is far more humble, perhaps meerkat size.
Final Rating – 5.5 / 10. It’s funny that the CGI Joe seems to vary in size greatly through the film, the only constant is the low level of quality.
