Mighty Joe Young 1949

"Mighty Joe Young" is a very good movie. Although not related to "King Kong" in terms of story or characters, its big ape themed action serves as a finale of sorts to a "Kong" trilogy. Along with "Son of Kong", it offers engaging characters and plenty of excitement on a much smaller scale than the incredible "King Kong".

The action in "Mighty Joe Young" is as plentiful as it was in the endearing "Son of Kong" and the effects are jaw-dropping when you take into account that this film was made seventy years ago.

The real appeal to me (other than Mighty Joe) is the Max O'Hara character. He's much easier to like than the cold and ruthless Carl Denham of "Kong Kong" but is not as endearing as the extremely softened Denham in "Son...".

It's a personal wish that today's movie watchers could get past the mindset that old movie = boring movie. They are missing out on adventurous, enjoyable movies like "Mighty Joe Young".

I know that for many this work is just a pseudo remake of King Kong, and that, because of this, its flamboyant splendor withered prematurely when it was ignored. One only has to compare the cultural impact between the two: only a few nostalgic vestiges of this film remain in popular culture. Needless to say, many elements are similar and the script is not new in many aspects. However, I can affirm that it is one of the great works of stop-motion, where this technique is exploited, boasting the different possibilities offered by this method of effects.

To put it in context, this film starts from the already experienced Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, who had worked together on the aforementioned film King Kong, and a young Ray Harryhausen (who would end up being the universal reference of stop-motion) who would take the reins of the special effects, resulting in a unique footage, rich in thrilling and visually powerful effects and a much more professional elaboration than the magnum opus King Kong, where the gorilla had perspective failures and had limited his movements (something totally justifiable, as it was the first film to use these effects).