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Monster House
Movie Stats & Links |
| Starring: |
The voices of : Mitchel Musso, Sam Lerner, Spencer Locke,
Steve Buscemi, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jon Heder |
| MPAA Rated: |
PG |
| Released By: |
Columbia Pictures |
| Web Site: |
www.monsterhouse-movie.com |
| Kiddie Movie: |
From what I've
been told, the eight and above crowd. |
| Date Movie: |
It's more
kid-oriented, but is still sort of entertaining taking you
back to those puberty days. |
| Gratuitous Sex: |
The babysitter was
a little over-the-top at times. |
| Gratuitous
Violence: |
The house is
pretty vicious. |
| Action: |
There is some
running and screaming. |
| Laughs: |
In a kid sort of
way. |
| Memorable
Scene: |
Nothing totally
stood out. |
| Memorable
Quote: |
Nothing really. |
| Directed By: |
Gil Kenan |
| Produced By: |
Jack Rapke, Steve Starkey |
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Monster House
A Movie Review |
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Our staff member, Stu, had a few questions for me after
he found out I had seen the animated "Monster House." One
was if the house was actually a monster (I guess I assumed
the title of the movie already addressed that fact), but I
told him that "Yes, the house is a monster." Then he asked
if they explained why the house was a monster, and I told
him that "Yes, there was an explanation as to why the house
was a monster, but I’m not going to tell you because it will
ruin the movie." He then said, "Dude, I will never see this
movie, especially since Stu Jr., after seeing the trailer,
begged me not to take him to see ‘Monster House,’ and
proceeded to have some sleepless nights worrying about the
neighbor’s house eating him." So I blew the entire story of
"Monster House" for him, but will do my best not to do so
for this review. Here’s the story…
DJ’s parents are going away for the Halloween weekend,
which doesn’t sit too well for DJ because 1: He believes the
house across the street is haunted, and B: That means he'll
be looked after by one of the worst babysitters in the
world, Zee. Thankfully for DJ he has his best friend,
Chowder, to rely on, but when Chowder’s basketball lands on
the lawn of the creepy house across the street, out comes
the grumpy widower, Nebbercracker, yelling repeatedly for
the boys to stay off of his lawn. But things aren’t going
too well for old Nebbercracker, and suddenly the boys start
to learn the secrets of the house.
Enter Jenny.
She’s a little whippersnapper of an entrepreneur,
negotiating selling boxes of candy to the neighborhood at
Halloween-time, and when she finds herself in peril at the
Nebbercracker residence, it’s DJ and Chowder who save her
day.
Jenny, ever the inquisitive one, gets wrapped into DJ and
Chowder’s story of the house, and DJ and Chowder, on the
verge of puberty, find themselves at that in-between place
of "Jenny is an icky girl" and "Jenny is a girl, and she’s
cute, and I must find a way to impress her." Chowder is the
funniest when it comes to this, trying to be all smooth and
debonair, while DJ goes for the more intellectual approach.
In any case our threesome now has a fight against time to
find out the secret of the house and kill it because if kids
keep coming up to the Nebbercracker residence looking for
candy on Halloween, well, the house will gets its belly full
of kids, while the kids won’t be getting any candy.
Do DJ, Chowder, and Jenny solve the secret of the house
and kill it in time for Halloween? How exactly does a house
eat a police car? And will Zee ever figure out what happens
to her boyfriend? All of these questions and more are
answered as we get through "Monster House."
There’s a tricky thing with this movie because as I was
watching it, it is much more entertaining than the trailer
seemed to suggest, and probably because DJ, Chowder, and
Jenny work so well together. The story of the house is
touching, yet sad, however it is really too scary for
younger kids, even if it is rated PG. My first inclination
of this was Stu’s son, under the age of 4, being scared of
the house, so at first I told Stu it was probably okay for
those over five year’s old. But then after talking to my
accountant, Dewey (of the firm Dewey, Cheatum, and Howe), he
said that he went to see it with his son, who had no problem
with it (his son is in the eight-ish range), but because he
actually has kids, he said it is probably better for eight
and older. The reason he stated is because, well, I’d give
something away about the movie I don’t want to, but let’s
just say that there must be a trigger of imagination and
reality between the ages of five and eight.
I must also add this, since I am reviewing the movie
after-all, and that is that I saw the film in 3-D. Gone are
the green & red flimsy glasses and in are some cheap,
plastic-framed polarizing lenses. The 3-D effects were
pretty cool, but not as eye-grabbing as you might hope for,
and confirmed with our staff-member, Whammy, who went with
me to see the movie, the movie a lot of time looked slightly
fuzzy. Right now I’d have to say you don’t really need to
spend the extra couple of bucks to see the 3-D version, but
the technology is a huge step forward, and does give a
glimpse at the future of movies.
So let’s wrap this review up. "Monster House" is about a
house that is a monster. It has a reason for being a
monster. The fathers I know say it is probably a little too
scary for those under eight, but the one did think the movie
was pretty good. The 3-D version was decent, but the
technology still needs a little work. And in the end,
Chowder was happy because Jenny touched him, but DJ shows
that being smart and brave can get you one better. With all
of that I’ve got to give "Monster House" 4 stars out of 5.
That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!!
L8R!!! |
