I never saw the first Goosebumps movie, but I’m familiar with the series from Fox and the books, though I never read them, I’m aware of them. The premise of the movie is pretty simple, for the most part, kids find something they shouldn’t mess with, they mess with it, wackiness ensues. Like the House with the Clock in the Walls, this movie has Jack Black in it, but only briefly. The movie follows the story of a brother, his older sister, and his best friend as they battle Halloween come to life.
I don’t want to spoil any of the movie, but for the most part, it was entertaining. I honestly don’t remember a lot of it. There were mostly a lot of laughs and a handful of genuine jump scares, but not much substance. It is a kids movie, with a bit for adults to find funny. RL Stine is an excellent writer, so the story holds up. I just never felt that invested, and the stakes were high enough. It just felt like it could have been a made-for-TV Halloween movie, one of those you used to see on ABC Family.
Onto the important stuff: the Hina test. This movie didn’t quite pass. It had a strong female character with the mom being a single parent raising two kids and the older sister doing what she can to save her brother. The best friend to the son was African American, so that’s nice, and the neighbor was Ken Jeong. He was kind of playing a bit of a caricature, but I’m not sure of what. I wish I had a middle grade, but I don’t – so this is more a fail than a pass. The movie was set in New York, so having a lot of white people wasn’t necessary. There was also a forced romance between the mom and the store manager of a pharmacy which brought nothing to the story.
If you like Goosebumps or like movies that are kind of scary, but really aren’t, then this is for you. Otherwise, I’d give a hard pass on this.
Action packed anti-hero movies can be a lot of fun. Tom Hardy with a wimpy American accent doesn’t do much for me, but it fit the character, to a small degree. For those of you that read the comics, watched the cartoon from the 90s, we know that there is more to Eddie Brock than being a seeming loser. The part where Eddie was a reporter who stopped at nothing to get the story was mostly correct, but in the comic, he never had the girl, which made him the perfect foil to Peter Parker, as he was always with or chasing Mary Jane. This isn’t critical to the plot of the story. The plot is somewhat hard to nail down. Is he a hero? Is he a comedian? Is it okay to laugh as Venom bites off someone’s head?
The story, if you go for that sort of thing, is about a reporter who is asked to do a fluff piece, but can’t follow instructions and pushes the envelope with a biotech, Elon Musk type, that has him fired and fires Brock’s girlfriend. Then one of the scientists gets cold feet, realizes that this isn’t okay, to kill homeless volunteers in the name of science. Brock finds out, through the scientist, finds his way into the facility, which mysteriously has no cameras, and frees one of the captives. Then the parasite grabs a hold of Eddie and the rest of the movie unfolds.
Honestly, this movie was kind of stupid. Does that mean I didn’t enjoy it? No. I have simple needs sometimes. Special effects can carry a movie. I mean, I wouldn’t pay more than the $7 I paid to see it. I also got the free comic, and my friend’s free comic, too. Tom Hardy is usually a good actor to watch, as is Michelle Williams. The rest of the cast was passable. It kind of felt like a B horror movie. Like, they skimped on the plot to spend more on the special effects. It showed. You might like it, but I can’t recommend it.
With respect to diversity, the main villain was an Indian dude and there was a strong female character in Michelle Williams. It barely passes, but it does.
So, I’m not the romance movie sort. You should know this if you follow this blog. But, when I saw the fanfare for this movie, I was intrigued. A romance movie with like, no white people in it? Dude, sign me up! I’m already telling you that the movie passed the Hina test. While most of the actors were of the lighter-colored variety, there was still a ton of diversity and a lot of subtitles, which I loved.
You might see the title and wonder, what was this movie about? Well, the title should give a solid approximation – the movie was about a family of wealthy Asians and this woman who is dating their son, who is to inherit the fortune, manage the business. It is over-the-top in a fun sort of way. The parties are lavish. There was a friend, who knew the main character, played by Awkwafina, who is hilarious in every scene she’s in. Her family is new money and she tries to coach the main character to recognize she’s in for a crazy weekend.
The whole movie was wholesome fun. There wasn’t any shame shame scenes, no gratuitous nudity, it was a nice look at how a film could hit all the notes, happy, sad, elation, whatever, and not be too much, not be grotesque. I really liked this movie, all around, save for the predictability of it, which was expected. Romance movies rarely break from their path. I get why they’re all so formulaic, but it is still fun to watch.
It’s been almost half a year since I saw a movie in the movie theatre…I was just slacking. I wanted to see a lot of the horror movies that came out, but I didn’t want to take the time to actually go to the theatre. But enough about me, you’re not here for updates on me.
A friend wanted to see this movie. I really don’t care for Jack Black, but a movie with Cate Blanchett is an event. I’ve missed far too many of her movies. She is really a treat. Years ago, I had the pleasure of seeing her live, at the Kennedy Center, performing in Street Car Named Desire. Anyway, this movie is about a kid, who loses his parents and is taking the bus to some city in Michigan to live with his uncle, who is estranged from his mother, but is the only family he has left.
The kid gets to the house, and it appears to be haunted, but only to the viewer, not to the kid, not at first. He soon discovers weird things are happening, but can’t explain it. The uncle finally admits that the house is haunted, sort of. It turns out Jack Black’s character is a warlock, a guy witch. The back story kind of takes us through this winding path of how Black’s character moved into the house after the previous owner died in a mysterious circumstances and left a doomsday clock in the walls. The movie builds up and up and the kid accidentally raises the dead warlock who lived in the house before and has to find a way to defeat him.
For the most part, this felt like a kids’ movie. There was some potty humor, and of course, Cate Blanchett is always wonderful. The overall story was complete by the end, but it didn’t entice me to read the books. And quite frankly, it didn’t keep my interest, but I did have a bucket of popcorn. For a kids’ movie, it was good. If you’ve got an inquisitive kid, then yes, go see it. But if you’re an adult, I’m not sure this is for you.
While the story is set in the 1950s in Michigan, one can’t expect any diversity. There were maybe two people of color and three women. Cate Blanchett didn’t have her magic totally under control and the other woman was evil, leaving the last one as a girl in the kid’s school. It felt a tad messy. I have to admit, this failed my Hina test.
