This shold be brief: "George of the Jungle", Disneys most recent entry into the live action Genre, is a very entertaining and hilarious day at the movies. First blush reaction to the whole premise might be one of "great..another TV series made into a movie...this'll probably be as bad as The Flinstones..."
Not true. "George" is a funny, refreshing, and fast paced update of the '67 animated series.
The story is a familiar one...boy lost in jungle, raised by apes, speaks with Tarzanesque "George not like liver" english, saves girl from lion, falls in love with girl, etc. It follows a Croc Dundee territory swap, as George goes to NYC to recover from a gunshot wound. Girls' rich parents reject him because he's "stripes" to her "spots", on and on.
But what is so entertaining is that all along the way, the film zigs where you expect it to zag. An expected routine punchline is replaced by a well written, witty exchange. A bad guy stops to argue with the narrator. The kenyan tour guide stops to tell the camera about the hilarity of a "man falling in elephant poop".
In short, it is well written. They sidestepped what could have become typical cliches. They thought about it, in the writing process, re-working lines until they were funny, not just typical.
The humor is sometimes adult, the inside references zinging over the kid's heads like so many spitballs. But the kids have their share of laughs as well. It is appropriate for all ages, just one questionable word, "ass".
Go see it. You will laugh enough times to make your $7.50 well worth it. The movie does NOT take itself seriously, and for that reason, allows you the viewer to laught right along with it. You're in on the joke.
4 stars out of 5.
Pat McCarty
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