Monster House
Review
by Clare Bath
Anyone got a tin of nails and punnet of paint? Something needs another coat.
Newcomer Gil Kenan’s Monster House
- no, it’s NOT a Steven Spielberg or Robert Zemeckis film, they
simply just opened their wallets to it - is technically dazzling but
could use some home improvement in the story department.
The basic blueprint is a story about two
pre-pubescent boys, DJ (Mitchel Musso) and Chowder (Sam Lerner) who
discover that old man Nebbercracker’s (Steve Buscemi) house
across the street is not just haunted, it is possessed.
During their neighborhood watch, the boys meet hot
tweener Jenny (Spencer Locke) while she is going door to door extorting
the neighbors as part of her school fund raising campaign. The three
pre-adults steal away into the flesh-eating house next door and much
hilarity is, well, attempted. Of course, the house is on its best
behavior in the presence of authority figures and it has a delicate
vomit reflex. The big climax culminates with the house, using trees for
feet, actually chases the kids down the street. There goes the
neighborhood. Hmmm.
Who is the audience for this movie?! In attempting
to grovel for too wide a demographic, the script is cluttered with
moments too sophomoric for adults and others inappropriate or too
frightening for kids. One moment DJ and Chowder pee in bottles, the
next moment they are phonetically likening the uvula to female anatomy.
The material that made cartoons like Looney Toons
appealing to both adults and children utilized double entendre that
worked on various levels. And oh yeah, they were – at the risk of
being tomatoed - actually funny.
Interestingly, the only character I felt for was
Nebbercracker, who sacrifices his beloved house for the safety of the
neighborhood and the freedom of his dead wife’s soul. The other
characters lacked, well, character - making them about as likable as a
second mortgage.
Animation technology continues to break new ground and this movie is no exception. Monster House
utilizes the latest in motion capture and digital 3D animation. Perhaps
it was the lush rendering and filmic camera moves with photorealistic
depth that made me expect smoother animation from the characters
instead of digital puppetry. Or perhaps Zemeckes and Speilberg’s
involvement caused me to expect greater depth and storytelling
craftsmanship. Ultimately, this movie could have benefited from an
extreme home makeover before being put on the market.
4 out
of 5
Monster House
Australian release: 14th September, 2006
Cast: Steve Buscemi, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jon Heder, Kevin James, Jason Lee
Director: Gil Kenan
Website:
Click
here.
|
