Should you watch this at weekend movie ticket prices? If you loved R. L. Stine books.
Should you watch this at weekday movie ticket prices? Yes.
Running time: 103 minutes (~1.75 hours)
Secret ending? Audio only, throughout the credits.
“Goosebumps” is a children’s comedy film with very light horror elements sprinkled throughout, based on the “Goosebumps” series of children’s horror books. It’s about a young boy who moves to a quiet town, only to find that his next door neighbour conceals a terrible secret. It stars Dylan Minnette (Zach Cooper), Jack Black (R. L. Stine, the voice of Slappy the Dummy), Odeya Rush (Hannah Stine), Amy Ryan (Gale Cooper), RYan Lee (Champ), and Jillian Bell (Lorraine Conyers). It is rated PG.
For anyone who’s grown up with R. L. Stine books, pointing out the various references in “Goosebumps” will have you entertained for most of the film. Even if you’ve only read one or two stories, as long as you liked them, you can feel the distinct style of the stories translated into film here. It’s actually a pretty entertaining family film, with just enough of the horror element to make it watchable for adults, but not so much that young kids won’t be able to sleep after the film.
Highlights
Different levels of humour
Thankfully, slapstick jokes only make up a small percentage of the film’s humour. There are sophisticated jokes as well that take some thinking to understand, and caters to the older audience (but nothing too adult), as well as character-based funnies that don’t require prior knowledge of the “Goosebumps” series to tickle you. Reading the books will definitely enrich your enjoyment of the film, but it’s not a requisite to catch most of the jokes on screen.
Surprisingly decent special effects
There are a large number of monsters and otherworldly creatures that our heroes have to battle in this film, and they are executed well, despite the sheer volume of animation required. Their movements are realistic and believable, and the monsters have enough detail that they could reasonably exist, but they’re not realistic to the point that they’re grim and gritty. They’re still bright and colourful enough that you know it’s a kid’s movie.
The twist in the tale
There’s a surprise part way through the movie which really elevates it past a regular children’s story. It’s what elevates this past a run-of-the-mill film into entertainment that even parents will enjoy. It’s not the kind of twist that you’d expect in a R. L. Stine story, and it’s innovative enough in this genre to make you sit up and take notice.
Tongue-in-cheek references
There are several modern-world and pop culture references that make this movie a contemporary one, rather than just a homage to R. L. Stine books (which take place mostly in an era of much less interconnectivity). It’s also assumed that the world at large and all children have read R. L. Stine books before, which is actually quite a reasonable expectation to have. Watch out for a quick shout-out at the end to the real R. L. Stine!
Letdowns
Jack Black is cringingly campy
Jack Black plays the stereotype of the grumpy old man with absolutely no deviations. There’s no excitement or creativity to the role, just lowbrow visual humour and the usual eyebrow twitching which is stale and predictable by now. He’s so over the top that the movie suffers terribly from his performance. True, it may be a kid’s movie and it’s not one that’ll garner critical acclaim, but it wouldn’t have hurt Jack Black to put in a little more effort into his supposed acting.
“Goosebumps” is a good film to unwind with after a long day – it doesn’t demand much from you, and you’re not likely to expect serious philosophical issues from it either. That’s why it exceeds expectations, despite its genre, and presents an interesting ride through R. L. Stine’s tales.
“Goosebumps” opens in cinemas 29 October, 2015 (Thursday).
This review was first published on Yahoo.
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