Curator Watchlist
Mighty Joe Young
A sentimental creature-feature remake with real charm, uneven pacing, and a surprisingly strong effects showcase. It works best as a family adventure with heart rather than as a tightly paced blockbuster.
Curator Watchlist
A sentimental creature-feature remake with real charm, uneven pacing, and a surprisingly strong effects showcase. It works best as a family adventure with heart rather than as a tightly paced blockbuster.
Where to watch: Buy
Fri · 1h 54m
Director: Ron Underwood
Starring: Charlize Theron, Bill Paxton, Rade Šerbedžija
As a child living in Africa, Jill Young saw her mother killed while protecting wild gorillas from poachers led by Andrei Strasser. Now an adult, Jill cares for an orphaned gorilla named Joe -- who, due to a genetic anomaly, is 15 feet tall. When Gregg O'Hara arrives from California and sees the animal, he convinces Jill that Joe would be safest at his wildlife refuge. But Strasser follows them to the U.S., intent on capturing Joe for himself.
Ron Underwood
Charlize Theron, Bill Paxton, Rade Šerbedžija
A sentimental creature-feature remake with real charm, uneven pacing, and a surprisingly strong effects showcase. It works best as a family adventure with heart rather than as a tightly paced blockbuster.
Mighty Joe Young is one of those late-90s studio adventures that feels a little old-fashioned even by the standards of its own era. The story is simple, the emotional beats are obvious, and the movie is often more sincere than subtle, but that sincerity gives it a certain charm. It’s built around the appeal of protecting a gentle giant, and the film mostly succeeds when it leans into that bond.
The effects are a major part of the draw. The mix of animatronics, suit work, miniatures, and early digital compositing gives Joe a tactile presence that helps sell the fantasy better than a purely CGI approach might have. The action is serviceable, though the movie can feel stretched, and the villain material is more functional than memorable.
What lingers is the movie’s heart and its family-friendly sense of wonder. Charlize Theron and Bill Paxton give it enough warmth to keep the melodrama afloat, and the film has a few genuinely winning moments of awe. It’s not a lost classic, but it is a pleasant, earnest adventure with enough craft and feeling to make it worth a look for the right audience.
matt lynch (2.5★) · 109 likes
pretty flat but sports a great mix of CG, animatronics, suitmation/miniature and compositing effects. best moment, kid on the street sees the giant gorilla, big Spielberg dolly in on his face as he exclaims, totally awestruck: "Phat!"
Ray (3.5★) · 94 likes
Imagine how big his turds must be
𝕭laze the 𝓐ction 𝕵unkie (4★) · 81 likes
I had never seen this live-action Disney adventure growing up, largely because I was probably avoiding Disney films when this was released at the beginning of my high-school years. However, after enjoying the 1949 original and discovering a major role here is played by the immortal Bill Paxton I had to seek this one out. While it's more of a drama than a fantasy adventure I do have to say I was quite invested in the story from the beginning.
Jesse Frost (3★) · 57 likes
Joe's really terrible at hide and seek
Gentry Austin (4★) · 53 likes
“He’s a giant gorilla with a mean backhand.” A real “you had to be there” moment in the mid-to-late 90s when Gorilla Fever gripped the nation. We had seemingly weekly National Geographic stories about Jane Goodall, we had Congo, we had George of the Jungle, we had Rene Russo and Buddy, and we had maybe the crowning achievement, a heart-wrenching, beautifully shot remake of 1949’s Mighty Joe Young starring adorable kids Bill Paxton and Charlize Theron. It was an exciting… more
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human-animal bond, protection of wildlife, poaching and exploitation, family adventure, gentle giant fantasy, environmental conservation, sentimental melodrama, spectacle and wonder
family adventure, creature feature, 90s Disney, practical effects, early CGI, sentimental, wildlife conservation, action fantasy, gentle giant, remake