Rocky and Bull Something (The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (DVD))

Member Name: marandina

Product:	The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (DVD)
Date:	01/01/02 (108 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some kids may like it

Disadvantages: Basically, a poor film

When it’s time for a cartoon Moose and Squirrel to save the world you know it’s time you woke up, got out of bed and did something useful. Except in this case it’s not a dream. It’s a Universal picture, which I suffered on New Year’s Eve.

Yes, we thought that we’d buy a movie to watch with the kids so I logged onto FrontRow and duly forked out £2.99. If only I could turn the clock back to last year.

Rocky & Bullwinkle has an extraordinary cast including Rene Russo, Robert DeNiro, Jason Alexander, Piper Perabo, Randy Quaid, Kel Mitchell, Kenan Thompson with the voices of June Foray and Keith Scott. The film is directed by Des McAnuff. There’s even cameo roles for John Goodman, Whoopi Goldberg and Billy Crystal.

***The Plot as much as it is***
Rocky & Bullwinkle (R & B) is a US TV show from the 60’s featuring our fearless Moose and Squirrel. R & B are based in Frostbite Falls, Minnesota, which, according to the opening scenes, has been in decline ever since the demise of the show.

Enter the villains. Robert DeNiro, rather incredulously, plays the flesh version of the cartoon character Fearless Leader (DeNiro and minions get turned from cartoon into real people via a sort of ray machine with levers). Together with his chief minions, Boris & Natasha (played by Jason Alexander and Rene Russo) they hatch a devilishly fiendish plot to zombify TV viewers across the States with RBTV (Really Bad TV). It's a sort of constant diet of daytime TV for the masses so in this respect the film got it right!

R & B have to get to New York City before the transmission starts and are given a presidential mandate for their mission by a worried James Rebhorn (US President). There endeth any complexity as Boris & Natasha pursue R & B across several states trying to bump them off with their secret weapon – a CDI (Computer Degenerating Imagery or something like that). As if they needed it
, R & B are given assistance from FBI agent Karen Sympathy (care and sympathy, get it?) played by Piper Perabo.

***Why doesn’t the film work?***
Drawing on the ground breaking "Who framed Roger Rabbit?" the film basically fails to build any rapport with its audience. I found myself constantly drifting off (thinking what shall I have to drink next?) made even worse by trying to keep the kids interested. My daughter wouldn’t put her GameBoy down and my son kept wandering over to his Scalextric. Screenwriter Kenneth Lonergan (Analyse This) fills 105 minutes running time with a string of weak visual and spoken japes that would be "no-brainers" even for kids.

The cast looks uncomfortable at times at having to act up to a bluescreen and it's a liitle too plain that there's a seam.

At one stage, DeNiro sends himself up from his role in Taxi Driver but even this is passé and been done many times before. The mix of cartoon and live characters is meant to be a slapstick, rollercoaster ride to appeal to young and old a like but it simply doesn’t make the grade.


Even the cameo roles are too cameo. John Goodman plays a cop who pulls the intrepid trio over whilst they are tearing down the Interstate in a truck. The joke here is played out to the tune of "Bad Cop" as Goodman utters his punchline "..who do you think you are, John Goodman?" Whoopi Goldberg gets to play a judge, white wig and all. Having played out a court scene for a number of minutes, she tips her glasses to realise it’s the famous R & B in front of her, in which case, celebrities are above the law and she lets them go (pretty simple, really).

***So in conclusion***
This movie is available on Sky Box Office and NTL FrontRow for £2.99. The video and DVD are available through the usual sources e.g. Amazon.com at £12.99 for the vid and £17.99 DVD. Watch this movie at your peril. If you go
into it expecting nothing then you’ll get what you asked for. If you want more then buy something else.

An unfortunate way to start the New Year but then there’s always another movie.

Marandina 2002.

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