Paramount+ Just Added a Goofy ‘90s Blockbuster (& It’s Perfect for Jurassic Park Fans)

Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park is a cinematic behemoth. Based on Michael Crichton’s novel of the same name, the 1993 classic revolutionized filmmaking through groundbreaking CGI and animatronics and set a new standard for blockbuster spectacles. Jurassic Park fans looking for their next watch after binge-watching their way through the entire seven-film franchise and Spielberg’s new Netflix show The Dinosaurs can now stream one of the goofiest ‘90s blockbusters on Paramount+.

Just two years after Jurassic Park, another Crichton novel was brought to the screen in Congo. Frank Marshall’s 1995 Golden Raspberry Worst Picture winner, which also won a Best Science Fiction Film Saturn Award, started streaming on Paramount+ on March 1st. The movie was a blockbuster hit with a $152 million worldwide haul and centers around an expedition team, including a talking gorilla named Amy, who travel into the African jungle to locate a lost city. The expedition takes a dangerous turn when they encounter a species of violent, grey gorillas.

Congo Is a So-Bad-It’s-Good Jurassic Park Wannabe

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If you’re looking for a film with the same caliber as Jurassic Park, then Congo certainly isn’t it. In fact, the movie’s abysmally low 24% critic score and 29% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes puts it below even the lowest-rated movies in the Jurassic Park franchise (Jurassic World Dominion and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom). The film is essentially a campy, desperate attempt to replicate the success of Jurassic Park, and while it missed the mark in just about every way, it’s a quintessential so-bad-it’s-good movie that all Jurassic Park fans should see.

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The best way to describe Congo is Jurassic Park with a campy, popcorn-action tone. More than just being based on a Crichton novel and featuring themes of science running amok, the movie essentially follows the Jurassic Park template to a tee. Just like Jurassic Park, Congo centers around an expedition into a dangerous, secluded location to investigate a failed mission. But after that is when things get crazy. Instead of T-Rexes, the threats are hyper-violent gorillas, some of whom talk and at some points even drink martinis and wield lasers, that are brought to life through impressive, albeit now pretty cheesy, creature effects. And just like Jurassic Park, there are plenty of memorable moments in Congo, from lost diamond mines and lava-filled action to iconic quotes like, “Stop eating my sesame cake!” Congo is far from revolutionary, but it’s a solid guilty pleasure campy ‘90s flick that will satisfy the itch and guarantee laughs for creature drama.

What’s New on Paramount+?

Movie fans shouldn’t sleep on Paramount+. The streamer has a solid lineup of streaming titles that grows every month, and March has been a great month. Fans looking for more creature features after streaming Congo can now watch Crawl and The Ruins after both movies joined the platform on March 1st. The list of March arrivals has seen titles across genres land in the streaming catalog, including 21 Jump Street, Good Will Hunting, The Banshees of Inisherin, and White House Down.

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