In a remake of the legendary 1949 same-titled film, Walt Disney Pictures 1998 production of Mighty Joe Young stars Bill Paxton and Charlize Theron, and is directed by Ron Underwood.
Theron portrays Jill, a young woman whose mother along with Mighty Joe's mother were killed by poachers twenty years previously, and now Jill and Joe have grown up together in the Central African wilderness. Enter Paxton as an American zoologist who convinces Jill that Mighty Joe would be better off under his (Paxton's) stewardship, and she agrees, as long as she can come along and serve as the ape's caretaker.
Once in America, attempts by poachers to capture the great ape intensifies, including one determined poacher who happens to be the same one who killed Joe and Jill's mothers two decades ago.
The film climaxes with the predictable pursuit and resulting chaos in the streets of Los Angeles. Special effects reign over the actual storyline, but younger audiences will no doubt enjoy it anyway.
