Reviews: Congo (1995) Movie Review
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Where does Congo (1995) stand among horror films? Our review examines the scares, pacing, and what makes it unique in the genre.
Congo (1995) is a 1h 49-min American mystery-action-adventure movie that was loosely based on Michael Crichton‘s novel titled Congo. Director Frank Marshall (Alive (1993), Arachnophobia (1990)) did an average job executing this film that had an estimated budget of $50 million and grossed over $152 million at the box office. Congo was not a huge success because it was a cliche to so many other films and in reality, it bit off more than it can chew although it was lots of fun to watch. Fans who are looking forward to the action scenes should look elsewhere because the action scenes are hopeless in Congo. I do not blame the director entirely for this film barely making it an average film because the editor did a lousy job editing the movie, and a few other departments did not do so well either.
Charles Travis (Bruce Campbell - Army of Darkness (1992), The Evil Dead (1981), Burn Notice (2007-2013), Evil Dead II (1987)) and Jeffrey Weems discover the ruins of a lost city in the Congo Jungle. Charles and Jeffrey (Taylor Nichols - Jurassic Park III (2001), Boiler Room (2000), Barcelona (1994), Godzilla (2014)) was testing a communications laser in a secluded part of the Congo jungle near a volcanic site. Karen Ross (Laura Linney - The Truman Show (1998), Mystic River (2003), Primal Fear (1996), The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)) did not hear anything from the guy and activated a remote camera at the camp. She saw several dead bodies at the camp which was destroyed before something gigantic knocks over the camera. Karen was informed by Charles’ father, R.B. Travis (Joe Don Baker - GoldenEye (1995), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), Cape Fear (1991), The Living Daylights (1987)) that the group was looking for a rare blue diamond.
Dr. Peter Elliott (Dylan Walsh - Nip/Tuck (2003-2010), Unforgettable (2011-2016), The Lake House (2006)) is a primatologist that teaches human communication to a primate named Amy, who is a gorilla. Amy’s (voice of Lola Noh - Primal Force (1999), B-Boy Bear (2009)) sign language is translated to a digital voice with the help of a unique backpack and glove. Peter is not happy and is afraid of Amy’s well being as he thinks that she is having nightmares and psychological problems because of her drawings of the jungle. Peter received funding from philanthropist Herkermer Homolka (Tim Curry - The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), Charlie’s Angels (2000), The Hunt for Red October (1990), FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992)) which will help to take Amy to Africa. Karen decided to help the funding also and tag along in the hopes of finding the rest of the team. The team makes their way to Africa while encountering one nightmare after another.
Congo was a movie that I was looking forward to and was happy that I saw it because it had energy and a sense of humor whenever the gorillas had screen time. The actors did not do such a good job with their roles and one of them overacted, but the gorillas was phenomenal. I enjoyed the movie because of the gorillas, sound, sets, and design.
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Sources Used to Shape This Review
Insights in this review are drawn from director interviews, fan commentary, production notes, and long-form breakdowns across genre-specific platforms. Content is written uniquely and reviewed for accuracy.
- Congo Rating Scores
- Our Score: 5/10
- Overall Score: 3.87/10
- IMDB: 5.3/10
- MetaCritic: 2.2/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 2.3/10
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