Congo (1995)

"Oh, no! The bad apes have the crystal lasers!", 20 November 2017

I'm going to keep this short – you can read all about Congo all over the internet. I just have a couple of comments – First, Congo's biggest problem is that the movie is all over the place with useless plot threads piled on top of useless plot threads. It tries to do too much. The movie lacks focus. With everything else going on in Congo, the big, bad gray apes have so little screen-time that it's astonishing. The movie was billed as being about killer apes, but they're on screen for a few seconds at the beginning (well, they're sort of on screen) and for about 15 minutes at the end. In between, there's so much nonsense going on that, in reality, has nothing to do with the apes. The whole bit about the assassination of the African leader and all the garbage that happens as a result is a complete waste of time. Congo really needed more ape madness.

Second, if you read most of the stuff on the internet about Congo, you will no doubt read negative comments about Tim Curry's performance. While I agree that it's over-the-top, it's one of the few things I found enjoyable. He's hysterical. Maybe I'm laughing for all the wrong reasons, but entertainment is entertainment. And really, what were you expecting from Tim Curry? He's an over-the-top ham in everything he ever did – not just Congo.

4/10