140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW
Joe Johnston’s directorial debut sure takes a long time to get going; feels like 20 minutes of exposition. Pity, cause payoff’s pretty good.
Spoiler-free Movie Review of Honey, I Shrunk The Kids:
Let’s be clear: I’m reviewing this solely because it’s the 25th anniversary of the movie (I’m sort of a slave to this anniversary thing – may need to do something about that). Because previously I wouldn’t have been caught dead watching this movie. It came out when I was 16 and an opinionated jerk who probably would have classified this as the nadir of film. Which just further illustrates my snobbery and the perils of same – because Honey, I Shrunk the Kids was not bad at all. In fact, as a 41 year old opinionated jerk, I fully appreciated it for the solid family adventure it is.
The movie starts off really slowly. It really does – the setup for the actual shrinking event must be 20 minutes of not very interesting exposition. It certainly feels that way, anyways.
Rick Moranis plays the absent-minded professor, in this movie named Wayne Szalinski. I hardly need tell you what kind of character he is, since this is a standard archetype. The film feels it is necessary, though, so we spend a ton of time learning that his wife is considering leaving him, his colleagues don’t respect him, his inventions are buggy, his relationship with his kids borders on absenteeism, and he fights with his neighbor. The neighbors are similarly over-written as Russ Thompson Sr (Matt Frewer) struggles with his sons, particularly Russ Jr (Thomas Wilson Brown), who doesn’t want anything to do with his father’s interests. Both men are married – to Diane (Marcia Strassman) & Mae (Kristine Sutherland), respectively – but it barely matters since neither woman is given much to do.
Wayne has built a machine to shrink items but it doesn’t work until a freak accident causes, blah, blah, blah. You get the picture. After a career spent as the technical talent behind some major productions, director Joe Johnston would eventually become quite a good director. With this first foray, however, he needed to learn from the adage “don’t bore us, get to the chorus”. Once we’re actually into the plot, however, the movie picks up nicely and his roots as an effects artist and art director on some of the biggest adventure pictures of all time make for a great foray into fun fantasy, if a bit limited by budget in this instance.
The four kids – Russ Jr & Ron Thompson (Jared Rushton), Amy (Amy O’Neill) & Nick Szalinski (Robert Oliveri) – must navigate the back yard to get back to the house, all while shrunk to ¼“. This, of course, is where the movie finds its footing and becomes the kind of movie that kids love. Seeing it for the first time, now an adult (ehh, sort of) it didn’t hit me the same way my daughter enjoyed it, but I could absolutely see the quality and the appeal. I’m not going to outline all of the adventures or gags, but it’s good stuff that still works on today’s youth, even though the effects show their age.
Yes, it’s a Disney movie, with all that implies, but Honey, I Shrunk the Kids is a solid, well-made family film that ages better than I would have expected. Might have been more enjoyable with a ten-minute haircut, but that also would have probably reduced the screen time of Matt Frewer, whom I love, so let’s call it square. Recommended.
Poster:
Trailer:
http://youtu.be/44N0TaASIso
Bechdel Test:
Pass
The Representation Test Score: B (7 pts)
(http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)
| Main Cast | Rick Moranis Wayne Szalinski, Matt Frewer Big Russ Thompson, Marcia Strassman Diane Szalinski, Kristine Sutherland Mae Thompson |
| Rating | PG |
| Release Date | Fri 23 Jun 1989 UTC |
| Director | Joe Johnston |
| Genres | Adventure, Comedy, Family, Sci-Fi |
| Plot | The scientist father of a teenage girl and boy accidentally shrinks his and two other neighborhood teens to the size of insects. Now the teens must fight diminutive dangers as the father searches for them. |
| Poster |  |
| Runtime | 93 |
| Tagline | The most astonishing, innovative, backyard adventure of all time! |
| Writers | Stuart Gordon (story) &, Brian Yuzna (story) … |
| Year | 1989 |
