A teenager teams up with the daughter of young adult horror author R. L. Stine after the writer's imaginary demons are set free on the town of Madison, Delaware.
Director:
Rob LettermanStoryline
Upset about moving from a big city to a small town, teenager Zach Cooper (Dylan Minnette) finds a silver lining when he meets the beautiful girl, Hannah (Odeya Rush), living right next door. But every silver lining has a cloud, and Zach's comes when he learns that Hannah has a mysterious dad who is revealed to be R. L. Stine (Jack Black), the author of the bestselling Goosebumps series. It turns out that there is a reason why Stine is so strange... he is a prisoner of his own imagination - the monsters that his books made famous are real, and Stine protects his readers by keeping them locked up in their books. When Zach unintentionally unleashes the monsters from their manuscripts and they begin to terrorize the town, it's suddenly up to Stine, Zach, Hannah, and Zach's friend Champ (Ryan Lee) to get all of them back in the books where they belong.
Goosebumps (2015)
Movie
Reviews
R.L. Stine's beloved "Goosebumps" series of books were pivotal books in the lives of millennials; I remember at least a couple kids in every one of my elementary school classes reading Stine's eclectic, twisty mysteries (I, myself, started on "Friday the 13th" and slasher films much younger than I probably should have, so "Goosebumps" always seemed like childish-fare to me). Nonetheless, a film adaptation - which surprisingly took this long to come about - caters to the genre of "kiddie horror" or "tween horror," a largely neglected, and frankly financially uncertain, genre of film that always seems to have its mind on creativity and adventure than anything else."Goosebumps" is very reminiscent of nineties TV movies one would find on Nickelodeon or the Disney Channel; it evokes the kind of cheery sentiment of network premieres that were the talk of the lunch table in elementary school. Its ability to rekindle the kind of charm of the series whilst creating something that's pleasantly manic and a bit creepy without being too cheeky or immature shows that this kind of filmmaking hasn't gone by the wayside just yet.
The story revolves around Zack Cooper (Dylan Minnette), a teenager who moves from New York City to a sleepy town in Delaware with his mother following his father's untimely death. He quickly meets his neighbor, a bitter and elusive grouch (Jack Black) with a beautiful teenager daughter named Hannah (Odeya Rush). One day, while convinced that her father has abused her after hearing screaming and yelling from the home, Zack calls the police to the home, which leaves everyone but Zack to believe it was a giant misunderstanding.
As a result, Zack sneaks in the house one day to see if Hannah is all right when her father isn't there. When Zack knocks a book off a shelf and it unleashes the abominable snowman, he realizes Hannah's father is R.L. Stine, the acclaimed author of the "Goosebumps" book series. Suddenly, all of Stine's monsters are released from his books, everyone from the invisible boy to Slappy the Dummy (both characters voiced by Black, as well), which results in mass chaos for the entire state of Delaware.
Jack Black plays a very rare and interesting role here, one that allows him to be pretty morose and angry, two traits he doesn't really exercise quite often, if ever. The refreshing change for his overblown personality results in "Goosebumps" being another showcase for his versatility and incandescent energy levels that never seem to be crippled, regardless of whatever script or director he's working with.
And with a backdrop of numerous different monsters, quirky teenagers, and some very fun sequences, particularly when the group tries to evade the werewolf in the supermarket, the results are usually very favorable. "Goosebumps" bears incredibly high energy levels and a nonstop sense of manic fun, which keeps it a fluid and fun project, often carefree and pleasantly not attempting to instill any kind of self-aware, meta humor to what should be a simple endeavor for families.
I had the pleasure of seeing 'Inside Out' at the Cannes Film Festival and I must say it was wonderful and a huge step-up from Pixar's recent efforts. The trailers don't really do it justice. The story may seem complicated for younger viewers, but the way Pixar tells the story fits for both adults and children. The pacing is in the vein of Wall-E, and in that sense it is very much a film for adults as it is for kids (like most Pixar movies). The story here is surprisingly raw and emotional, one that has very deep underlying themes that adults will connect with. Many of the audience members were crying at the end. It has one of the most original stories for an animation in the last few years, and I believe many people (especially adults) will form a connection to it.
Speaking of animation, the film is breathtakingly beautiful. There is a nice contrast of colors that make it look vibrant, like Pixar's 'UP'. The voice cast did a wonderful job and you couldn't ask for better direction from Pete Doctor and co. I cannot wait to see this a second time with family and friends. Highly recommended.
PS: The short that played before the film, 'Lava', was also beautiful. It was sort of a musical, and it was quite funny and clever. The audience even applauded at the end of it, myself included. In that sense, it provides the entire package a nice balance of joy and laughter (Lava) followed by deep storytelling and emotion (Inside Out).