Hooptober Neun (2022) - Film #8

Let’s get this out of the way immediately - although the VR graphics here were likely remarkable at the time, they have aged poorly, and border on the comical when viewed today. However, when a movie starts with a genius chimp stealing a pistol and going on a rampage, you’ve got to pay attention.

I’m very conflicted about how I feel about the character of Jobe. Initially, I was concerned that the character would be very reductive and insensitive. However, we are shown how Jobe is exploited and abused by the people around him, and I have to feel that those involved in the making of this film approached this character with good intentions and an honest effort to create a sympathetic character. That said, some of the language used in relation to Jobe is woefully outdated, and there are some physical elements that Jeff Fahey introduces to the character that I definitely could have done without.

Opposite Fahey is Pierce Brosnan, who has some wonderfully campy dialogue and an entertaining way of delivering them. He is the most engaging part of this film, and in a large part carries it. I’m not particularly familiar with Brosnan’s work, but this has made me keen to see some of his other pre-Bond work.

The CGI work forms a major component here, and as previously discussed, I’m sure that this was mind boggling at the time. It’s not now, and it can be quite distracting, to a ridiculous degree at times, especially as the film nears the end. On one hand, it’s not fair to blame the filmmakers for technology advancing, however, making a movie so dependent on visuals that will very quickly become outdated is not the best decision. Yet another lesson in why practical effects are so wonderful.

The overarching plot is fine, if a little predictable once the set up is in place, but there are some nice elements in the detail, and I particularly enjoyed some of the more action orientated scenes, especially those around two thirds into the movie. This film is completely bizarre at times, and that’s generally a positive, however, there’s just too much of everything.

The version that I watched here was the extended cut that combines the theatrical cut with some rescued footage. That makes for a very long film, significantly longer than it needs to be. That said, I’ve read other reviews which have suggested that the longer runtime allows better exploration of the characters, and it would be a shame to lose that, but there must have been a way to cut this down and make a more succinct movie. I wasn’t quite sure whether I found the ending to be quite weak or if I was feeling fatigued after watching the previous two hours.

All in all, reasonably enjoyable, at times truly bizarre, but too long and with question marks over Jobe’s initial portrayal and the over-reliance on quickly outdated CGI.