Congo is like Michael Christon remade Jurassic Park but with Gorillas being violent and testing the perimeter and killing people and such
Your first hurdle here is that for most of the running time, a gorilla is very clearly being played by a man in a suit. And everyone acts like its a real Gorilla. Then there's the wristband that interprets its gestures into a Stephen Hawking voice and says things a baby would want. Then there's the irresponsible stuff: Gorilla is given a martini, his carer says "she's allowed one." Gorilla is given a cigarette, against her carer's wishes, so he tells her "Don't inhale!" I hope nobody uses this movie as a guide to good Gorilla management because who-ee... Then there's the dialogue. Like, there's a sort of heavy type played by Ernie Hudson, who tells the heroes "I'm your great white hope, I just happen to be black." Just non-stop relentlessly bad writing. Dylan Walsh is a complete absence. He is a massive black hole. He's like that character in The Mighty Boosh where people look at him and don't see a face. I'd say the movie suffers 50% total quality degradation because of this guy. Laura Linney is Laura Linney: you're either in camp Laura Linney or you're most moviegoers and would rather it wasn't Laura Linney. I personally would rather it had been Renee Zellweger or Adrienne Barbeau or some dude. Laura Linney is again more minus value. From my perspective, there's nobody in this who is worth watching.
If this were a movie by the Wayans brothers, I'd probably be giggling. Congo definitely falls into that "so bad its good" category, because its made with slick Hollywood filmmaking, and just happens to feature a string of situations and dialogue so ridiculous they provide a good laugh.
Well, I think I've made my point. This is not good.
Your first hurdle here is that for most of the running time, a gorilla is very clearly being played by a man in a suit. And everyone acts like its a real Gorilla. Then there's the wristband that interprets its gestures into a Stephen Hawking voice and says things a baby would want. Then there's the irresponsible stuff: Gorilla is given a martini, his carer says "she's allowed one." Gorilla is given a cigarette, against her carer's wishes, so he tells her "Don't inhale!" I hope nobody uses this movie as a guide to good Gorilla management because who-ee... Then there's the dialogue. Like, there's a sort of heavy type played by Ernie Hudson, who tells the heroes "I'm your great white hope, I just happen to be black." Just non-stop relentlessly bad writing. Dylan Walsh is a complete absence. He is a massive black hole. He's like that character in The Mighty Boosh where people look at him and don't see a face. I'd say the movie suffers 50% total quality degradation because of this guy. Laura Linney is Laura Linney: you're either in camp Laura Linney or you're most moviegoers and would rather it wasn't Laura Linney. I personally would rather it had been Renee Zellweger or Adrienne Barbeau or some dude. Laura Linney is again more minus value. From my perspective, there's nobody in this who is worth watching.
If this were a movie by the Wayans brothers, I'd probably be giggling. Congo definitely falls into that "so bad its good" category, because its made with slick Hollywood filmmaking, and just happens to feature a string of situations and dialogue so ridiculous they provide a good laugh.
Well, I think I've made my point. This is not good.