A guilty pleasure. (Howard the Duck (DVD))

Member Name: RussellC

Product:	Howard the Duck (DVD)
Date:	21/08/00 (61 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lea Thompson, it's a stupid idea.

Disadvantages: Doesn't realy work, not very funny.

Mention Howard the Duck to most people and they'll either have never heard of it or else they'll immeadiatly pan it. I have to say that I actually quite enjoy the film, it's not one of the greats, but it's a great film to just switch off an watch. You dn't need to concentrate, just sit back and enjoy the absurdity of it all.

Howard is a duck who lives on a planet of ducks in a distant galaxy. Experiments on Earth with a new kind of telescop manage to pull him from his planet down to Earth. The first person to encounter Howard is a would be rock singer, played by Lea Thompson. She befriends him and tries to help him in his quest to return to his home planet. On route ot discovering a way of sending Howard back they encounter the scientist behind the project that brought him here. He would be the ideal person to help, but for the fact that something else was pulled down by the telescope and has possessed him. Everything culminates in a fight between Howard and friends and this alien creature that wants to bring more of his friends to Earth.

Obviously the plot is quite silly and it was intended to be a comedy, the problem is the jokes don't work. Without the comedy the whole thing feels quite pathetic. Jokes are tried mainly based around the fact that Howard finds things on Earth wierd or disgusting, but they always fall flat. Special effects aren't great, the Howard suit won't have you fooled for a minute, but if you can't suspend your disbelief at all then this isn't a film you'll enjoy. There's also some Claymation monsters fr the climactic scene, but again these aren't going to convince anyone. Performances are all pretty average, everyone involved seems to have been doing things by numbers, no real effort seems to have been involved.

So basically, I've spent the last paragraph outlining a number of reasons why someone shoudn't enjoy this film. Despite these I find it a very eas
y film to watch, not one I'd look out for, but if I was flicking round the channels and hit upon ths I'd probably stay and watch it. It has a certain charm mainly due to its absurdity, other equally adsurd comic based films have worked (Mystery Men springs to mind) yet this one just doesn't quite do it. Don't put too much effort into watching this but if you do see it give it a chance, there are worse ways to spend an hour and a half.

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