The film of Michael Crichton’s Congo aimed to capitalise on the success of Jurassic Park.
It did, leaving something quite surreal behind…
That gorilla has seen the city of Zinj.
Fox would adaptRising Sun.
But also out of the traps was Paramount Pictures, which greenlit an adaptation of Crichtons novel,Congo.
Time has not been kind toCongo, though.
At the time of writing, its IMDB score stands at 4.9 out of 10.
Rotten Tomatoes has it at 22%.
Even reviews at the time sneered at the film.
And, in truth, theres an awful lot wrong withCongo.
But, with my flameproof jacket on, Ive always had a soft spot for it.
And, on rewatching the film in preparation for this piece, I still have that very same spot.
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As it happened,Congos journey to the screen actually started in the 1970s.
The books publication would follow in 1980.
There was still some work to go though, not least the requirement for a screenplay.
Oh, and for his Oscar and Pullitzer Prize.
In an illuminatinginterview with The AV Club, Shanley shed some light on what happened.
He recalled that Marshall and producer Kathleen Kennedy got in touch and asked him to read the book.
I called them and said, I read it.
They said, Well, whatd ya think?
And I said, I like the title.
This is dead accurate.
This is exactly what I said, I like the title.
Which presumably would have been enough to kill his involvement stone dead.
Er, or maybe not.
And they said, Great!
Well make the deal.
And I was like, Holy mackerel, they wanted this to happen.
So I said, Okay, because I felt a great loyalty to them.
I said Ill do it, but the great white hunter has to be black.
And they said, Fine, the great white hunter will be black.
No matter what anyone throws at him throughout the film, he remains unphased.
Some may say uninterested, but Im definitely going with unphased.
Instead, the script was the proverbial tip of the proverbial iceberg.
Which leads us to talk about animals.
The era of Andy Serkis was clearly still some time away.
Congokicks off with the necessary plot points.
Within minutes, it looks promising too.
This screenshot is the most feature-packed we could make it look.
Er, moving on.
Through circumstances then, the expedition-to-get-a-diamond-thatll-make-a-laser-good-and-improve-the worlds-communications-for-all-time-and-stuff-like that goes wrong.
Bruce Campbell is feared dead!
Travis, surprisingly easily, convinces Laura Linney to go and look for him.
The thing is, shell need to find another expedition heading to that area to piggyback.
Paradoxically, they are also the two things that makeCongosuch a joy to watch.
They are Tim Curry and Amy The Gorilla.
Lets do them in order.
Tim Curry has a pivotal role inCongo.
Homolka is the sinister, mysterious one of the expedition into Zaire.
Homolka doesnt heed the advice though, causing Lindos character to scream the line at him again.
Homolka, second time around, cedes to the request.
I can but conclude that theres no way Tim Curry wasnt in on the joke here.
His masterful delivery of the crucial line It is the city of Zinj almost deserves a round of applause.
To be clear: Im not being ironic here.
I genuinely love Tim Currys performance inCongo.
The aforementionedPlanet Of The Apesput across a dark and sinister tone with such restrictions.
Truthfully, you could give Amy any dialogue whatsoever, and youd be guffawing in seconds.
Given lines to spout like Ugly gorillas.
But then surely, surely the framing of Amy as more of a comedy character is a deliberate choice.
After all, to be taken seriously as a gorilla, she needs to follow thatPlanet Of The Apestemplate.
To be an unpredictable force of sorts.
Amys certainly unpredictable to be fair.
Disbelief suspension though is crucial to the film.
At one stage, the expedition team are in a plane being shot at by missiles.
Then, by heat seeking missiles.
These flares are enough to fool the heat seekers.
I immediately rewound the scene and watched it again to check that this happened.
So, given all that Ive said so far, why doesntCongofall apart?
Again, there are a few reasons.
Firstly, full credit to Laura Linney.
Secondly, Frank Marshall stages one or two really good sequences here.
Its a theme lifted fromJurassic Parkcertainly, where the raptors test the fence.
In this case, its gorillas being cut apart by lasers.
Quite graphically, as it happens.
Finally, Marshalls not a daft man.
But its still, Id argue, a rollicking piece of entertainment, made at just the perfect time.
Any later, it would have been a computerised blah-fest.
Here, its quite wondefully barmy.
And Tim Curry knows it), and promptly ends up bringing it to its knees.
Presumably, its supposed to look like they fell in.
It ends up looking like human beings in furry suits going off the diving board.
And the only one where Laura Linney shoots off a gorillas hand with an improvised laser gun.
That looks like it hurt.
It grossed $152m on its worldwide cinema release, and did decent business on video too.
Considering it cost $50m to make, thats not a bad return.
Sadly, its a film thats more sneered at than enjoyed now, and thats a pity.
I cant imagine thatd happen, but a man can dream.
Jerry Goldsmiths excellent score got a special edition release in the end after all.
