Monster House

This is a computer animated film about (drum roll please) a monster house. I have a split opinion about this movie. I did not like the first half much, and I loved the second half. If you have kids and want to go to a movie that you can enjoy while being with them, this movie would be a good choice. The movie is not a bad movie at all; I just got the sense that it could have been a great movie. If you are interested in computer animation you might want to check this out, the animation of the house is excellent and never less that eye catching. It sucks you right in.

What is wrong with the movie? The child characters fall somewhat flat, and it seemed to me that if they had worked out the dialogue and the character's interactions just a little more it would have improved the first half. If you ever read any Disney history you will know this type of problem was a constant battle that Disney fought on many of his films, at one point he scrapped a large amount of work on Pinocchio and starting completely over. For a first time director, Gil Kenan, I would not be afraid to give him a second shot though. I loved Steve Buscemi as the voice of the grouchy old man that owns the house, Mr. Nebbercracker. I also did not think that the motion capture used in some of the scenes (at least where I noticed it) interrupted the movie more than it moved the movie along. It tended to interrupt the flow and did not make the movie any better. Maybe the movie was just too long for its plot, but I think it was more an issue about how to portray the main characters, the kids specifically, and make them come to life. How are the filmmakers going to grab the audience by the seat of their pants and get the audience to really care about the characters onscreen? Have you seen The Third Man? The ending of that movie just makes me cry, every time (the part in Dumbo where Dumbo's little trunk searches for his mama, who is locked up, also brings a tear to my eye).

Once we get to the meat of the movie, the monster house, the movie takes off and soars. It is scary. It is worth sitting through the first part of the movie to get to the second half. The house, as it is animated, is frightening, and the second half of the movie might cause the much younger and more sensitive kids to have nightmares. I am a big kid at heart, and I absolutely loved it. The team that put together the sequences of the house chasing the kids did a knockout job.

You can write James Harper at movielover77061@yahoo.com