CONGO (1995)

CONGO (1995)

Tagline: Where you are the endangered species

(Action, Adventure, We are...Watching You) [PG-13]

Do you remember what I told you? That if I ever found out you sent me here for some diamond... and NOT for Charlie... that I would make you sorry?

In this one, a company sends an expedition to locate diamonds in the Congo big enough to power a new laser they have developed. On a video call, (like the 90’s version of Zoom), the leader of the expedition is cut off and there is fear the crew may be in danger. Dr. Karen Ross, (played by Laura Linney who was brought in to give some levity to TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS) is not freakin having it. She finds a dude with a gorilla, and some other people she barely knows, and heads right to the Congo. Because the leader of that expedition was her former fiancé or something like that. What they find when they get there is not what anyone could have imagined. Unless you are just super imaginative. 

Okay first off, if you see this movie on someone’s dumb “Movies I Wish I Didn’t See” or “Avoid These Movies Like The Plague” list… just ignore that. This movie is pretty freakin great. I am apparently not the only one who quietly thought so, because this movie made 3 times what it cost to make at the box office. A big part of what I loved about this movie was that it’s wildly unique. I guess you could put it in the action-adventure category, but a LOT of this movie is just the crazy stuff they had to do just to get to the “Lost City” they are trying to find. I mean they are dealing with drug lords, a war, hungry hungry hippos, and other stuff. 

The acting is great with the exception of Tim Curry (who played Herkermer Homolka). I normally wouldn’t say this about Curry, I really like him, but in this role, he is doing a pretty crazy accent and the whole thing just gets really annoying really fast. Ernie Hudson (of GHOSTBUSTERS fame) does awesome in this, Grant Heslov is cool as “Richard”, and you can’t go wrong when you cast Laura Linney in anything. 

Where this movie struggles a bit is with "identity" I guess. A lot like JURASSIC PARK, part of the wonder is the island and getting introduced to the dinosaurs before everything goes to crap. CONGO starts out in a similar fashion, and ends up in total chaos (Malcom would be thrilled). Only the really crazy parts of CONGO are cut way short and maybe take up the last 7 minutes of the movie. It also ends up being pretty weak for the most part in the "effects" department which is "un-like" JURASSIC PARK. I think if you went to the movie for the suspense and high-end effects, you might have walked out disappointed. For this reason, I think I am going to give this one a 5 out of 7. I personally could give it a 6, but I understand some of the criticisms.

 
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