I haven't watched this since I saw it during it's theatrical release, so I think I was hoping it would be better than I remembered. No such luck. The premise is that a team of scientists are deep in the jungle of the Congo looking for a rare type of diamond, which could be the answer to their new communications system. They find the diamond but also something else....and then no one hears from them again. The head of the company sends Dr. Karen Ross (Laura Linney of EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE) there to find out what happened.
Meanwhile, a researcher wants to return his gorilla, Amy, back to the Congo. He has enabled her to speak with the help of a contraption that converts sign language to audible words. However, Amy is plagued by nightmares, which may have something to do with this eye in the jungle she keeps on painting. A Romanian philanthropist (Tim Curry) offers to pay for her return once he sees these paintings. He knows what the ape painted has to do with King Solomon's Mines. It's the eye of one of the statues.
When the philanthropist runs out of money to pay for the flight to Africa, Dr. Ross offers to pay for it, as long as she can go along for the ride. Once in Africa they encounter a government coup and some potentially hostile natives. And the find the ruined city where the diamonds are. It's guarded by these mean-looking, gray carnivorous apes.
I love the Michael Crichton book. However, this adaptation is lacking in several respects. The actors are all miscast and Tim Curry is just terrible. On the plus side Bruce Campbell gets killed off in the first few minutes. I am not a Bruce Campbell fan.
While the killer apes are pretty cool looking, Amy the gorilla is a bit too fake. And it doesn't help that once they reach the ruined city it looks like a big set.
I haven't watched this since I saw it during it's theatrical release, so I think I was hoping it would be better than I remembered. No such luck. The premise is that a team of scientists are deep in the jungle of the Congo looking for a rare type of diamond, which could be the answer to their new communications system. They find the diamond but also something else....and then no one hears from them again. The head of the company sends Dr. Karen Ross (Laura Linney of EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE) there to find out what happened.
