By Geno McGahee
In 1997, GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE was released and I recently reviewed it and it was surprisingly awesome. Never underestimate how great a gorilla getting hit in the nuts is. I wouldn’t want to live in a world without gorillas.
Disney, in the 1990s, made a series of notorious live action films based on popular titles. Remarkably, I really enjoyed the first INSPECTOR GADGET, but hated the direct to video sequel and thought that I might be in the same boat with GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE 2. Much like INSPECTOR GADGET, the majority of the actors and actresses were replaced. Brendan Fraser was gone and Christopher Showerman was now in the role, but to the film’s credit, it addressed it in a funny way. When George is introduced, the narrator said “who are you?”
The sequel does pay close attention to the original and picks up where the last left off. George and Ursula (now played by Julia Benz) are living in the jungle with their son, George, JR., (Angus T. Jones). To the credit of Julia Benz, she does closely resemble Leslie Mann and her portrayal of the character was very good. Even though I knew she wasn’t Mann, I saw her as Ursula.
Ape (John Cleese) is still in Las Vegas and it was really funny how they attacked Kenny Rogers for some reason. As Ape sat at a poker game, Rogers kept singing his gambler song, annoying everyone. I bet Kenny Rogers was annoying in real life. He had country music. He had rotisserie chicken. He had it all and he knew it. That probably led to an ego like no other.
Beatrice (Christina Pickles) is teaming up with Lyle (Thomas Haden Church) to get Ursula away from George and back into the arms of her ex, Lyle. Now, there was one loose end here that they didn’t address. What happened to Lyle’s gorilla wife from the first one? I guess it didn’t work out. Church is amazing as Lyle. He is awesome in every scene.
The plan is to get ownership of Ape mountain and use it as leverage to get Ursula back and it almost works. It leads to many fun moments. One of the funniest was watching Ape and George in Las Vegas, running from the cops. Keep in mind, I love gorillas and I might not be objective here. If there are gorillas in films doing silly things, I will most likely really enjoy it and this film has no shortage of gorillas being silly.
As the film went on, I accepted Showerman as George. He did a good job becoming the character and owning it despite the odds being against him. It’s an uphill battle when you assume a role from a popular actor that had a hit film. Showerman was the character in a straight to DVD sequel. That’s a losing deal but this film was way better than it had a right to be.
The final showdown with Beatrice, Lyle, George and Ursula is a lot of fun and it includes many laughs. The gorillas team up to flame fart on construction workers the narrator takes Lyle away with a wedgie to the heavens. It was very funny.
GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE 2 didn’t have the budget of the first for sure. The CGI was pretty bad, but the gorilla suits were great and the humor worked in this. If you can look beyond the recasting and bad CGI, you might get some laughs from this. I did. I wish they had more Lyle in this one.
Shockingly, this movie is good. It’s not as good as the original but it’s a lot of fun. I wonder if FLUBBER is funny too. I think that’s next on my Disney live action film review run.
