"Congo" takes place in (err) Congo, where we follow an expedition with a bunch of people with different motives into the jungle. Two of them wants to take a talking(!) gorilla back to the jungle where she was once born. A scientist is looking for a diamond that her company badly needs, and she´s also looking for her lost co-worker and ex-boyfriend, who disappeared in the jungles of Congo. With them are also a greedy Romanian (with a very peculiar accent) who wants diamonds for his own. To protect them from various dangers, they´ve hired a sleezy mercenary, who´s got a group of soldiers (who later are revealed to be pretty useless when it comes to fighting). In the jungle they encounter lots of dangers such as bad weather, a spooky indian tribe and a crazy hippo, before they finally face their worst opponent yet: murder gorillas!
"Congo" has everything a classic B-movie should have; a silly plot, B-actors, unconvincing special effects, lots of logical gaps in the script and talking gorillas. The movie feels a bit like a roller-coaster at Universal Studios or something, however it´s not a very funny one.
It begins with an exciting scene in the jungle, but we only get a glimpse of what will come. But after this "Congo" soon becomes boring and stupid, with weapons made of diamonds and an irritating gorilla. And in the end everything just collapses and becomes a shoot-em-up flick. The movie has some beautiful sceneries of the African nature, but this doesn´t help the movie much.
The actors are okay, but Laura Linney and David Hasselhoff-look alike Dylan Walsh are far to pale in the leading roles. Instead, "Congo" belongs to the mercenary, played by Ernie Hudson, and the Romanian scoundrel, played by the delightful Tim Curry. These two have some funny moments, and almost makes this a comedy. Since you´ll be laughing out loud when you hear the stupid lines and see the crappy effects, you might actually believe that "Congo" is intended to be a comedy. I was also very surprised to see unbilled performances by the two great actors Joe Pantoliano and Delroy Lindo. I mean, what are THEY doing in this mess? Bruce "Evil Dead" Campbell has a very small role, but it´s funny to see him in a movie, since we get to see far to little of this great actor, I think.
It seems to me that those who has read the book "Congo" by Michael Crichton were very disappointed with the movie, and really hated it because the book was so much better. I haven´t read the book, so I can´t comment that, but I think that the movie is pretty harmless and if you don´t think too much about it, it´s not THAT bad.
** out of *****
"Congo" has everything a classic B-movie should have; a silly plot, B-actors, unconvincing special effects, lots of logical gaps in the script and talking gorillas. The movie feels a bit like a roller-coaster at Universal Studios or something, however it´s not a very funny one.
It begins with an exciting scene in the jungle, but we only get a glimpse of what will come. But after this "Congo" soon becomes boring and stupid, with weapons made of diamonds and an irritating gorilla. And in the end everything just collapses and becomes a shoot-em-up flick. The movie has some beautiful sceneries of the African nature, but this doesn´t help the movie much.
The actors are okay, but Laura Linney and David Hasselhoff-look alike Dylan Walsh are far to pale in the leading roles. Instead, "Congo" belongs to the mercenary, played by Ernie Hudson, and the Romanian scoundrel, played by the delightful Tim Curry. These two have some funny moments, and almost makes this a comedy. Since you´ll be laughing out loud when you hear the stupid lines and see the crappy effects, you might actually believe that "Congo" is intended to be a comedy. I was also very surprised to see unbilled performances by the two great actors Joe Pantoliano and Delroy Lindo. I mean, what are THEY doing in this mess? Bruce "Evil Dead" Campbell has a very small role, but it´s funny to see him in a movie, since we get to see far to little of this great actor, I think.
It seems to me that those who has read the book "Congo" by Michael Crichton were very disappointed with the movie, and really hated it because the book was so much better. I haven´t read the book, so I can´t comment that, but I think that the movie is pretty harmless and if you don´t think too much about it, it´s not THAT bad.
** out of *****