CONGO
A film review by Jonathan E. Myers
Copyright 1995 Jonathan E. Myers
Rating: 2 (on 10 point scale)
I was looking forward to CONGO. I had read the book a couple of years ago and liked it. I figured that there was a decent chance of someone turning it into a good action-thriller movie. I was wrong. I turned out to be the worst movie that I've seen this year.
CONGO is the story of a giant corporation that sets out on a desperate search for some unique diamonds located in the remotest regions of the Congo. These diamonds are the key to the future for this company so when the first expedition is mysteriously wiped out, a new expedition is immediately dispatched.
The new expedition constists of a Romanian philanthropist, a primate Ph.D., his talking gorilla, a research assistant, a communications Ph.D. (the leader), and the African guide. This group treks into the Congo to retrieve the diamonds and find out what happened to the other expedition.
The special effects were pretty good except for the cheesy ape costume. The acting was terrible. None of the actors seem like they are doing anything besides walking around and speaking their lines like they just read them off a page for the first time.
The screenplay was terrible. There is absolutely no character development. I did not care about the characters at all. I don't expect much from an action movie, but this had none. The plot was entirely unbelievable. I can suspend my disbelief a couple of times per movie, but this one was just too much. Personally, I wish that I had not seen this movie. It was not worth the time or money. See it at your own risk.
Jon Myers (Portland, OR)
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