written by mark rosenthal and lawrence konner starring charlize theron , bill paxton , david paymer as reviewed by james brundage
i 'm beginning to get fed up .
over my four years as a critic , the thing which has kept me going is the moderate balance of films .
the good balances the bad .
i try to see both in equal proportions .
but disney 's mighty joe young remake marks the fourth week in which i have n't seen a truly terrible movie .
it 's a backwards machismo , i suppose , the urge to see the things which you so loathe ; but i need to see a bad film every once in a while .
and , you know what , mighty joe young does n't qualify .
far from being bad , mighty joe young is actually a family fun movie .
it 's enjoyable , appropriate , cute , cuddly , and all of those other things that i 've been seeing in every movie since a bug 's life .
mighty joe young tracks a 2 , 000 pound gorilla in the wilds of africa that is taken to a reserve in .
. .
california ? .
.
. for safe - keeping .
okay .
a little unrealistic , but who ever said a kid 's movie had to have the slightest hint of realism .
the first half of the movie is a gorillas in the mist - esque hatred of poachers woman - of - the - wild motif .
the second half is a straight up parody of king kong , awestruck onlookers and all .
mark one down .
i 'm feeling relaxed .
it is , as a point of fact , an extremely un - creative movie .
but , as a vetern , i can say quite honestly that creativity does n't count for as much as it should .
so that saves mighty joe from my wrath , although my colleagues and cohorts and surely bashing this film at this very moment .
this is not the film to take a girl on a date to .
it 's not the film for you .
it 's the film for you and your family .
when you 're right alongside your kid , all of the normal rights and wrongs slip away .
the same thing happens when you watch a horror movie or an action flick .
it becomes fun .
all you have to do to enjoy mighty joe young is shut up and watch .
i 'm feeling relaxed enjoyable , appropriate , cute , cuddly , and all of those other things actually a family fun movie it 's the film for you and your family