<\/p>\n
Michael Crichton wrote some of the most prescient and compelling page-turners of the past 50 years: “The Andromeda Strain,”\u00a0“Timeline,” “Sphere,” “Jurassic Park,” and “Disclosure,” to name a few. He was perhaps unfairly written off by some naysayers for churning out airport novels, but there is no denying that the slick style of his well-researched techno-thrillers was a great match for Hollywood and has provided the source material for a string of blockbusters. Among his more pulpy books was\u00a0“Congo,” about the killer monkeys and a lost city of diamonds. The inevitable big-screen adaptation was slammed by critics, but it still became a surprise box office hit \u2014 and also featured Ernie Hudson’s favorite role.<\/p>\n
It’s always welcome to see Hudson in a movie, although in general he is best known for playing supporting characters such as 4th-wheel Winston in “Ghostbusters,”\u00a0the intellectually-disabled handyman in “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle,” and the kindly cop in “The Crow.”\u00a0Over his lengthy career, Hudson hasn’t had the opportunity to play the lead too often in major feature films, but he got his chance in “Congo.”\u00a0He told AV Club<\/a>:<\/p>\n “‘Congo’\u00a0was my<\/em> film. It was my character, and I got a chance to do my version of whatever a leading man is, which has always been a bit of a challenge, finding those parts. I had so much fun with that character, and they allowed me, reluctantly, to do the accent and be the African guide. It was just so much fun, and it’s probably my favorite character of all.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n Hudson has every right to be proud because his turn as dashing adventurer Captain Munro Kelly is the standout performance in a movie that plays like a weirdo cousin to “Jurassic Park.”<\/a><\/p>\n Read more: The 15 Best Dystopian Novels Of All Time, Ranked<\/a><\/p>\n\n
What happens in Congo?<\/h2>\n