the Mind’s Chew Toy

As I mentioned in the review of Clerks II earlier this week, we planned on seeing both movie #11 and movie #12 of our Summer At The Movies 2006 this week. #11 was Clerks II and movie #12, which you’ve probably already guessed, was Monster House.

We had been wanting to see this for a couple of weeks now, even after being inundated by the preview at almost every turn. Hey, we figured if the jokes in the preview (an example: Jenny, pointing at chandelier inside house, says “that must be its uvula.” Chowder’s response “Oh, it’s a girl house.”) could still be funny after seeing the preview so many times, how bad could the movie really be? So, with that, we rushed off to the movies on a Thursday (a rare event for us), and sat down to enjoy an hour and a half of fun with Monster House…which didn’t turn out quite as we expected.

Mitchel Musso and Sam Lerner, neither of which are big-name child actors, do a great job with the voices of the two main characters, DJ and Chowder, in Monster House. Spencer Locke, whose only previous film credit includes a “sleepover girl” in Spanglish (according to IMDb.com, which also states that she’s playing “K-Mart” in the upcoming Resident Evil: Extinction), does a great job as well as the voice of Jenny.

With three relative unknowns as the voices of the main characters, there is no pause as the audience tries to fit the faces of the actors to the characters on-screen, allowing the movie to jump almost immediately into the action. Plus, with that strong base, Sony Pictures Animation could afford to bring in big-names for other parts of the film without worrying about pulling the audience out of the film.

The people at Sony Pictures Animation obviously realized that as well, as almost every other character in Monster House is voiced by a well-known actor or actress. From Napoleon Dynamite’s Jon Heder to Catherine O’Hara, Kathleen Turner, Fred Willard, Jason Lee, Kevin James and Nick Cannon, the celebrity voices are all over the place in Monster House.

The only other major characters, the babysitter Zee and the crotchety old neighbor Nebbercracker, are voiced perfectly by Maggie Gyllenhaal and Steve Buscemi, respectively. They bring a little more wisdom and experience to the film, and probably helped the younger actors a great deal with their performances.

One word of warning for you parents planning on taking your young ones to Monster House. Despite what you may have seen in previews, this film is not very kid-friendly…or humorous, really. Almost from the get-go, this animated “family” film has one of it’s main characters labeled as a murderer! Talk about not really kid-oriented! Sure, it does have it’s funny moments, but even most of those are aimed more at teens and above (like the aforementioned “uvula” joke).

Unfortunately, the way this film has been presented to the public, many moviegoers will go into the film thinking it’s along the lines of a tame Disney flick or something - and be very surprised once the movie gets going. Even with the few people in the theater with us, one girl and her father left early on, as the film was too frightening for the young girl - and it hadn’t even really got into the more sinister aspects of the film yet!

If you’re in your teens (or later), however, the film will do a good job of entertaining you for it’s hour-and-a-half running time. Plus, the effects are very impressive, thanks to the new REAL D Digital 3D Format, previously seen in use in The Polar Express (a much more kid-friendly film).

The plot of Monster House seems to have been taken from a horror film, and transplanted into a more friendly, animated format. It’s an odd mix, but it works out pretty well for Monster House. Sure, there are obvious ties to issues almost every kid has - adults not believing them, being picked on, a first crush, etc., but adults should enjoy the film, as it lets them recall some of those memories from days past.

Sure, the plot does get a little convoluted when explaining the house’s behavior, but hey - isn’t that the case for every movie monster? Think about it - whether it’s Frankenstein, Dracula, The Wolfman, Freddy or Jason, they all have some rather convoluted reasons for existing, don’t they? Obviously, the origin of the movie monster doesn’t get the same scrutiny as what the movie monster does on the screen. And the house in Monster House manages to work it’s way up to near the top of the list for movie monsters thanks to it’s convultions on-screen.

Those actions are very realistic in appearance, as this new technology is obviously a great improvement over standard animation. While there are some minor foul-ups (watch the basketball bounce, and you’ll know what I’m talking about), overall this new technology helps bring Monster House to vivid life. The colors are rich and full, and the action seems to jump right out of the screen at the audience.

By the time the climactic conclusion draws near, the audience will have almost forgotten that Monster House is animated, as they are focused on how the film will end. But, by that time, they may also be sensing that the film is going to end on a sappy high note, and everything will work itself out for the best. While this is expected for most films these days, it’s almost a disappointment for this film, giving it’s horror film-like plot.

In horror films, the ending always feature the survivors, battered and scarred though they may be, struggling to get on with life after their horrific ordeal. In Monster House, they suddenly seem to realize it’s supposed to be a kids movie, and suddenly take a big step backwards, presenting the viewer with a kid-friendly, mother-approved ending that doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of the film.

Overall, Monster House seems to have been made for young teens about the age of the main characters on the screen. For the younger crowd, it should be off-limits, as it may frighten them a bit too much - and have them asking a bit too many hard-to-answer questions about death and the like.

For older kids like myself, it’s fun right up until the end, where it suddenly develops a case of the backpedals - and leaves us with a rather sickly, too-sweet aftertaste in our mouths. While Monster House is worth a viewing if you like animated films, this film doesn’t look to be destined for my DVD collection anytime in the near future.