House of Gucci review

HOUSE OF GUCCI: 

RIDLEY SCOTT-DIRECTED BIOPIC IS AS DISJOINTED AS IT IS ENGROSSING WITH INCREDIBLE ACTING…AND INCREDIBLY BAD ITALIAN ACCENTS! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

MGM

Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Jared Leto, Jeremy Irons, and Al Pacino in House of Gucci

 

            Director, Ridley Scott (Gladiator, American Gangster, The Last Duel) brings the fascinating story of the Gucci family to the screen in the new biographical crime-drama, House of Gucci. The film is adapted from the 2001 novel, The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed by Sara Gay Forden, which in turn was based on the lives of Italian socialite, Patrizia Reggiani and businessman, Maurizio Gucci and how a once beautiful romance can transform into something ugly. 

            I know practically nothing about the actual events nor anything about the Gucci family and fashion company, so I have no idea how accurate this film represents what really happened or the people involved. Instead, I will be judging it as a film as what I normally do. 

            This is one of two Ridley Scott movies released about a month apart from each other this year with the first being The Last Duel, which I really enjoyed. Now, we go from Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven Ridley Scott with The Last Duel to American Gangster and All the Money in the World Ridley Scott with this…which I am not at all against! 

            The trailers caught my interest despite many of the actors’ Italian accents sounding a little off to say the least. With that said, even though it’s pretty easy to make fun of the accents, House of Gucci has a star-studded cast consisting of Lady Gaga (Machete Kills, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, A Star is Born (2018)), Adam Driver (Star Warssequel trilogy, Marriage Story, The Last Duel), Salma Hayek (Desperado, From Dusk till Dawn, Eternals), Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club, DC Extended Universe, Blade Runner 2049), Jeremy Irons (Die Hard with a Vengeance, Margin Call, DC Extended Universe), and Al Pacino (The Godfather trilogy, Scarface, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) to name a few. 

            Well, after seeing it I can say that House of Gucci is a very inconsistent movie that’s sometimes a comedy and other times a crime-drama with very unconvincing Italian accents, but I won’t lie and say I wasn’t extremely entertained by it. It’s hard to say whether or not this is a good movie, bad movie, or somewhere in the middle, because on one hand the acting for the most part is excellent and the story I found very fascinating, but on the other the fake Italian accents everyone has are hilarious (Lady Gaga in particular sounds more Russian than she does Italian), and the film as a whole has a really inconsistent tone that isn’t sure whether it’s trying to be a gripping, Godfather-esque crime-drama or humorous like a cheesy soap opera. 

            The film spans nearly twenty years and follows Patrizia Reggiani (Gaga), who marries Maurizio Gucci (Driver), and he eventually becomes the head of Gucci Fashion. However, Patrizia’s unbridled ambition begins to unravel the Gucci family legacy which causes a spiral betrayal, revenge, and eventually…murder in her plot to obtain a controlling interest in the Gucci brand. 

            The film also stars Leto as Paolo Gucci, Irons as Rodolfo Gucci, Hayek as Giuseppina Auriemma, Pacino as Aldo Gucci, Jack Huston (Boardwalk Empire, American Hustle, Fargo (TV series)) as Domenico De Sole, Reeve Carney (Pom Poko, The Tempest, Penny Dreadful) as Tom Ford, and Camille Cottin (Allied, Killing Eve, Stillwater) as Paola Franchi. 

            Overall, House of Gucci will likely be very divisive among audiences whether you’re familiar with the real-life events or not, but I can guarantee you’ll probably have a good time with it. My thoughts on the film are all over the place, one moment I’m invested in the story and taking it seriously, the next I’m laughing at the banter and dialogue between the actors. 

            I was engrossed in the story, despite its inconsistent tone and judging by other sources, it sounds like the film took a lot of creative liberties. The benefit of that is it makes me curious to learn more about the real-life Gucci family and see what the movie did right and what it did wrong, in my opinion that’s what a biopic is supposed to do. 

You know how Ridley Scott’s The Martian won the Golden Globe for Best Musical or Comedy and it shocked everyone especially Scott himself? This I think is a more appropriate pick for that, because while it tries to be a legit drama, the characters are so exaggerated and the line deliveries are strangely comical, it’s hard not to laugh. 

            I’ve made fun of the fake accents enough in this review, but I will acknowledge that the performances for the most part are very spot-on with Lady Gaga owning every moment she’s onscreen and an almost unrecognizable Jared Leto disappearing in his role as the eccentric and dim-witted aspiring fashion designer, Paolo. Seriously, the makeup on Leto is incredible and if it wasn’t for the trailers and posters saying that’s him, I wouldn’t be able to tell, it’s almost on par with Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder or Jim Carrey in Kick-Ass 2, and unlike his Joker performance from Suicide Squad, he’s weird in all the right ways and got several laughs out of me throughout the film. 

            I guess if I had to think of a semi-underdeveloped performance in this, I will admit that Adam Driver’s performance is a little bland here, who I usually love in films. It’s hard to tell if him downplaying his performance was intentional or not, but it seems like he doesn’t quite bring the same kinetic energy from his other roles to this one and comes off as being the typical snooty businessman who constantly shuts Lady Gaga out, he portrays the part just fine, but I think he pales in comparison to Gaga’s commanding and often manic performance. 

            House of Gucci probably won’t go down as a Ridley Scott classic, but those looking for a competently made biopic on the Gucci family with a star-studded cast, glamour, hilarity both intentional and unintentional and murder will probably enjoy their visit. Fashion and murder mixed together, it’s got a little something for everyone. 

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City review

RESIDENT EVIL: WELCOME TO RACCOON CITY: 

ARGUABLY AN IMPROVEMENT OVER ITS PREDECESSORS, BUT PLOT AND CHARACTERIZATION ARE AS BIG A MESS AS THE UMBRELLA CORPORATION ITSELF! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: ** out of 4

SCREEN GEMS

The Resident Evil franchise has been reborn in Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City

 

            Resident Evil goes back in time to 1998 in Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, the latest installment of the Resident Evil franchise based on the popular survival-horror video game series by Capcom of the same name. Welcome to Raccoon City serves as a reboot to the series of Resident Evil films that were released from 2002-2017 and starred Milla Jovovich…they aren’t good movies at all, but I got a bit of a soft spot for some of them. 

            Despite the previous Resident Evil films existing mostly for the director of the majority of them, Paul W.S. Anderson to show off his sexy and badass wife, Milla Jovovich (A formula Len Wiseman and Kate Beckinsale would eventually duplicate in the Underworld franchise) and not exactly being a faithful adaptation of the source material as most of the official characters are limited to supporting roles and the films themselves have more of an action tone rather than a horror one, I found myself enjoying a chunk of those films as dumb, mindless fun to an extent. I liked them when I was younger, and I continue to have some nostalgia for the first film despite not seeing it when it initially came out in 2002 (I was way too young at the time!). 

            Anyway, after Milla Jovovich and Paul W.S. Anderson ended their run in 2017’s Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, now we have this reboot that brings the franchise back to its survival-horror roots and is adapted from the stories of the first two video games. Given the extremely polarizing responses from critics, audiences, and fans regarding the previous films, I guess it’s safe for me to admit that I came into this movie with absolutely no expectations whatsoever, after all films based on video games are starting to get a bit of momentum thanks to Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, Sonic the Hedgehog, and I’ll even say the recent Tomb Raider…then again, we also had Monster Hunter last year, which wasn’t that hot! 

            Despite not following the games that much aside from sitting and watching friends play them (I never really got the hang of the tank controls from the video games), I can gladly say that this film is a lot more faithful to the source material than the previous films…the bad news is the film as a whole is a gigantic mess! It is arguably an improvement over its predecessors and fans will likely enjoy famous moments from the games being recreated in live-action movie form, but without a strong story or compelling characters, it doesn’t amount to much. 

            The film is set in 1998 Raccoon City which was once the booming home of pharmaceutical giant, The Umbrella Corporation and is now a dying Midwestern town due to actions caused by Umbrella with a great evil hidden below the city wasteland. When that evil force is unleashed, a group or survivors consisting of brother and sister, Claire (Kaya Scodelario-Skins, Maze Runner trilogy, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales) and Chris Redfield (Robbie Amell-The Tomorrow People, The Flash, Desperados), Chris’ partner and STARS (Special Tactics And Rescue Service) member, Jill Valentine (Hannah John-Kamen-Game of Thrones, Ready Player One, Ant-Man and the Wasp), and Racoon City Police Department rookie, Leon S. Kennedy (Avan Jogia-Twisted, Ghost Wars, Zombieland: Double Tap) must work together to discover the truth about Umbrella, survive the night, and put an end to a zombie outbreak that should spread to the entire planet. 

            The film also stars Tom Hopper (Merlin, Black Sails, The Umbrella Academy) as Albert Wesker, Donal Logue (The Tao of Steve, Sons of Anarchy, Gotham) as RPD’s chief of police, Brian Irons, Neal McDonough (Band of Brothers, Captain America: The First Avenger, Sonic the Hedgehog) as William Birkin, Nathan Dales (The Indian Detective, Goon: Last of the Enforcers, The Broken Hearts Gallery) as Brad Vickers, Pat Thornton (Warehouse 13, Spun Out, Filth City) as The Trucker, and Lily Gao (Blood and Water, Second Jen, The Expanse) as Ada Wong. 

            Overall, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City has a ton of fan service that people who follow the long-running video game series will likely appreciate and it is significantly closer in feel to the source material than Milla Jovovich and Paul W.S. Anderson’s outings, unfortunately it’s at the cost of a good story and engaging characters. It’s a shame because you can tell writer-director, Johannes Roberts (47 Meters Down, The Other Side of the Door, The Strangers: Prey at Night) is trying his hardest to make a movie that Resident Evil fans will love as he incorporates many references and callbacks throughout the film, I don’t know if the script was butchered in editing or if it was another example of Sony not knowing what to do with a property, but had the script gotten a rewrite and the characters more fleshed out, I think this could have been not just a great Resident Evil movie, but also a very unique zombie film on its own merits, but as is it’s about as standard as World War Z, at least this film has an R rating. 

            The plot tries to cram the storylines of both the first and second Resident Evil games together into an hour and a half movie, which was a big mistake. It’s already difficult enough to adapt the plot of one game into a film, but when you try to condense the plots of two games into one film that’s not even two hours long, you take away a lot of those great story and character moments that ironically make the source material more cinematic and engaging than the actual cinematic outing. 

            As a whole, the film just feels like a watered-down retelling of the first two games minus the interesting story and strong character dynamics. The characters themselves range from one-note, generic, or just there to die, and very few of them I give a sh*t about, aside from maybe Claire, the narrative just doesn’t do a good job establishing these well-known characters, the only reason I know who they are is because I’ve seen them before in the video games…which do the characters far better justice. 

            Sometimes the action is kind of neat to watch, it isn’t anything spectacular, but it at least feels like a live-action version of the game. One scene where Chris is shooting a bunch of zombies in the dark, I found quite effective, sadly fun action doesn’t make up for the film’s problems. 

            If you’re a die-hard fan of the Resident Evil games, then it probably won’t hurt to watch Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City to appreciate the fan service and callbacks. However, if you want a more enriching Resident Evilexperience then I’d suggest staying at home and either play one of the latest game remakes or watch the 2012 CG-animated film, Resident Evil: Damnation instead. 

Encanto review

ENCANTO:

DISNEY’S LATEST ANIMATED MUSICAL REDEFINES THE TERM “DISNEY MAGIC”! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4

DISNEY

Mirabel embarks on a quest to save her family and home in Disney’s Encanto

 

            Lin-Manuel Miranda (In the Heights, Hamilton, Mary Poppins Returns) joins forces with Disney to bring the lively world of Encanto to the screen, the latest film from Walt Disney Animation Studios (Their “60^th Animated Feature” to be exact) written by Miranda and directed by previous Disney film director, Byron Howard (Bolt, Tangled, Zootopia) and Jared Bush (Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero) in his directorial debut. In the tradition of Disney animated films that explore different environments and cultures such as Norway for Frozen, Hawaii for Lilo & Stitch, New Orleans for The Princess and the Frog, and Polynesia for Moana, Encanto transports us to the colorful and vibrant mountains of Colombia, which are brought beautifully to life through Disney animation. 

            I will admit, while I had zero doubts that Encanto would end up being bad, I wasn’t quite excited for it, at least not nearly as much as Disney’s previous animated film released earlier this year, Raya and the Last Dragon. To me, Raya was game-changing in terms of Disney’s animated films that broke the mold of the Disney formula, Encantodoesn’t quite do that, though it is another Disney film that doesn’t have a villain nor a love interest, not to mention the main character isn’t a princess. 

            While I don’t think Encanto is quite as strong story-wise compared to other recent Disney films, I found myself thoroughly enjoying this film. From the gorgeous and vibrant Disney animation to the charming characters and hummable songs (To the point where I even bought the soundtrack on iTunes while I was writing this!), and even a thought-provoking narrative, this is one of the most feel-good movies I’ve seen so far this year and throughout most of it I had a big smile on my face. 

            The film follows the Madrigals, a family living in the mountains of Colombia with extraordinary gifts that resides in a magical place called the Encanto. The Madrigals are led by Abuela Alma Madrigal (voiced by Maria Cecilia Botero) and consists of people who possess all kinds of powers like a woman who is super strong and can lift bridges, buildings, and piles of donkeys, a girl who is perfect in just about every way and has flower-blooming abilities, a boy who can communicate with animals, a woman who can control the weather, another woman who hears everything in the house or “Casita” as the film calls it, and a woman who can heal people with her cooking. 

Everyone has a special gift, all except for Mirabel (voiced by Stephanie Beatriz-Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Short Term 12, In the Heights), a girl with no powers and is often described as quirky and imperfect but also emotional and empathetic. However, when the magic mysteriously starts to fade away, the house begins to crumble, and everyone starts losing their powers, Mirabel makes it her mission to find out why the magic is going away before and save her home and family. 

The film also features the voices of John Leguizamo (Carlito’s Way, Ice Age franchise, John Wick 1 and 2) as Mirabel’s uncle, Bruno, Diane Guerrero (Orange is the New Black, Jane the Virgin, Doom Patrol) as Mirabel’s first oldest sister, Isabela, Jessica Darrow as Mirabel’s second oldest sister with biceps that put the Hulk and Wreck-It Ralphto shame, Luisa (She also has the best song in the entire movie!), Angie Capeda (Wild Horses, The Seed of Silence, 2091) as Mirabel’s mother, Julieta, Wilmer Valderrama (That ‘70s Show, Beauty Shop, Grey’s Anatomy) as Mirabel’s father, Agustin, Carolina Gaitán (Narcos, The Greatest Showman) as Mirabel’s overly emotional aunt, Pepa, Mauro Castillo as Mirabel’s uncle, Felix, Reggaetón, Adassa as Pepa and Felix’ oldest daughter Dolores, Rhenzy Felix (Teen Wolf, Marvel’s Runaways, All Together Now) as Pepa and Felix’ son, Camilo, Ravi-Cabot Conyers as Mirabel’s cousin, Antonio, Maluma (Marry Me) as Isabela’s fiancé, Mariano, and frequent Disney voice actor, Alan Tudyk (Wreck-It Ralph, Frozen, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) as Pico. 

Overall, Encanto adds another truly magical film to Disney’s ever-growing filmography that is sure to uplift and enchant even the biggest sourpusses. The Disney animation is as lively as ever and the colors, especially on the Colombian architecture really pop, not quite on par with the animation from Frozen II or Raya and the Last Dragon, but still pretty darn amazing. 

Mirabel as a character in my opinion is one of the most likable Disney characters of all time and this is for one of their non-princess characters. She’s got this happy-go-lucky, somewhat ditzy personality similar to that of other Disney characters like Rapunzel from Tangled and Anna from Frozen, and despite being the only member of the family with no special power, she still retains this compassionate and carefree personality who’s always there for her family, I also admire how this movie doesn’t technically give her a magic power at the end like a happily ever after and she finds happiness with what she’s got. 

Probably my favorite out of her family members is Luisa, the older sister who’s the strongest in the land but also has a heart of gold. It’s humorous to see her lift outrageously large objects or animals like it’s nobody’s business, but she also gives some of the most heartfelt moments in the entire film…not to mention the best song in the movie! 

Let’s talk about the music by Lin-Manuel Miranda, like most of his other work, the music is fantastic and it’s impossible not to tap your foot or dance a little in your seat as they play. The musical numbers are brilliantly executed and accompany the songs perfectly with catchy melodies, amusing vocals, and a kinetic energy that’s so effective you’ll want to buy the soundtrack right after seeing the movie. 

Encanto is my Go-To family film of the Thanksgiving holiday and the air freshener after the giant canine dung that was Clifford the Big Red Dog from a couple weeks ago. It’s got catchy music, charming characters, and a tightly written script that celebrates the music and magic of Colombian culture with full effect. 

If there is any film that best describes the term “Disney Magic”, then this is probably it. 

Ghostbusters: Afterlife review

GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE: 

FOR A FILM THAT’S DECADES TOO LATE, THESE NEW “BUSTERS” ARE WORTH A CALL FOR A NOSTALGIA-FILLED BLAST! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

COLUMBIA PICTURES

Mckenna Grace, Carrie Coon, Logan Kim, Paul Rudd, Celeste O’Connor, and Finn Wolfhard in Ghostbusters: Afterlife

 

            The beloved and iconic 80s franchise is reborn (again) in Ghostbusters: Afterlife, the latest installment of the Ghostbusters franchise and a direct follow-up to 1989’s Ghostbusters II. Quick thoughts on my opinions on the previous installments; first film from 1984, I’m in the same boat as everyone else as I think it’s one of the greatest comedies of all time, with a colorful cast of memorable characters, a lot of imaginative ghosts and creatures that are just as memorable as the Ghostbusters themselves, dazzling special effects (Zuul dogs not withstanding!), and some very witty dialogue. Second one, I’m not the biggest fan of as most of it is a retread of its predecessor that tries to be more kid-friendly than the first film, but there’s still some creative ghost designs, the same cast and characters are back, and at times there’s a funny moment and lastly, the all-female reboot from 2016 had good intentions as well as a great cast, but sadly couldn’t quite win many audiences and fans over, I don’t think it’s as bad as what the internet said, but I do agree that it pales in comparison to the first film, though it does have some charm and sometimes a genuinely funny scene. 

            Now, we have this direct continuation of the original films directed by Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking, Juno, Up in the Air), the son of the original films’ director, Ivan Reitman who serves as a producer on this film that attempts to bring the franchise closer to its roots after the CGI-filled extravaganza, but financial failure of the 2016 reboot. The film was originally scheduled for a Summer 2020 release and even had a trailer shown theatrically before the 2019 Sony films, Jumanji: The Next Level and Little Women, but the release date was constantly shifted around due to the COVID-19 pandemic until finally landing a November 2021 release. 

            Given that this was yet another Ghostbusters movie released after the unfortunate passing of Harold Ramis, who played Egon in the previous two movies and died in 2014 and especially after the extremely divisive responses of the 2016 film, I didn’t really have any expectations going into Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Even when I saw the trailers, I wasn’t that impressed, I didn’t think this movie was going to be bad or anything, but the trailers just kind of felt like Ghostbusters mixed with Stranger Things which had me like “Didn’t Stranger Things already do this?” At the same time, I was very curious to see how this film would turn out and I have to say for a movie that’s decades too late, this is a pretty solid flick. 

            Granted, it does rely on a lot of fan service that can get a little grating at times (Most of the callbacks I thought were great and very cleverly worked in) and retconning the lesser Ghostbusters films (Ghostbusters II and especially Ghostbusters (2016) never happened in this universe) which I’m usually not the biggest fan of, but when you see what it’s building up to, it works in the long run. Add in a very likable cast, an engaging script, and a good sense of nostalgia without focusing heavily on it, and you got a worthy follow-up to the original films, while also giving it a fresh and fun update. 

            The film is set thirty-seven years after the events of the first film and follows a single mother (Carrie Coon-The Leftovers, Fargo (TV series), Widows) and her children, Phoebe (Mckenna Grace-Crash & Bernstein, The Young and the Restless, Annabelle Comes Home) and Trevor (Finn Wolfhard-Stranger Things, It, The Addams Family (2019)) moving to an old farmhouse in Summerville, Oklahoma after their grandfather passed away. However, Phoebe and Trevor soon discover that their grandfather was none other than Dr. Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis via archival footage), founding member of the Ghostbusters and has a whole arsenal of ghost-hunting gadgets hidden in the barn including Proton Packs, the PKE Meter, Ghost Trap, and of course, the Ecto-1. 

            The two siblings and their mother along with their newfound friends, Podcast (Newcomer, Logan Kim) and Lucky (Celeste O’Connor-Selah and the Spades, Wetlands, Freaky) as well as science teacher, Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd-Anchorman 1 and 2, Role Models, Marvel Cinematic Universe) realize that Egon moved to the farmhouse in order to prevent some major catastrophe from happening and wouldn’t you know it, a bunch of ghosts are unleashed and start wreaking havoc on the small town, Who You Gonna Call? 

            The film also stars Bill Murray (Groundhog Day, Lost in Translation, Zombieland 1 and 2), Dan Aykroyd (Saturday Night Live, The Blues Brothers, Driving Miss Daisy), Ernie Hudson (The Crow, Airheads, Oz), Sigourney Weaver (Alien franchise, Galaxy Quest, Avatar), and Annie Potts (Heartaches, Pretty in Pink, Toy Story franchise) reprising their roles as Peter Venkman, Ray, Winston, Dana, and Janine from Ghostbusters 1 and 2, Oliver Cooper (Project X, Californication, Red Oaks) as Elton, Bokeem Woodbine (Fargo (TV series), Spider-Man: Homecoming, Overlord) as Sheriff Domingo, Tracy Letts (Lady Bird, The Post, Ford v. Ferrari) as Jack, Josh Gad (Frozen 1 and 2, The Angry Birds Movie 1 and 2, Murder on the Orient Express (2017)) as the voice of Muncher, J.K. Simmons (Spider-Man franchise, Juno, Whiplash) as Ivo Shandor, and an uncredited Olivia Wilde (House, Tron: Legacy, Booksmart) as Gozer. 

            Overall, Ghostbusters: Afterlife is the prime example of a nostalgic throwback done right without pandering too much to fans of its predecessors while also being a very charming and engaging film in its own right. It does often hit familiar beats as the first film, but it never takes the Ghostbusters II route where they just rehash the exact same movie except kind of bad. 

            It’s a much smaller scale Ghostbusters story that’s doing its own thing while also paying tribute to the 1984 classic that inspired it. Don’t be expecting a big battle in New York City like in the previous films, but the climax is surprisingly quite emotional. 

            All the characters are very likable with Mckenna Grace’s Phoebe not just being great, but fully capable of carrying this entire movie. I haven’t seen her in much, but her acting in this is phenomenal and easily the best protagonist since the main characters from the first film. 

            The effects while CGI most of the time, are surprisingly quite good and there’s even a balance between CG effects and puppetry via the Zuul dogs for example which look much better than how they did in the original film. 

            It also does an excellent job with storytelling and making the audience grow attached to the characters, there’s even a beautifully done tribute to the late Harold Ramis during its climax and I’m not going to lie, I got a little teary-eyed during it. 

            Ghostbusters: Afterlife doesn’t quite rank as high as the 1984 classic, but it’s easily the best Ghostbusters follow-up we’ve ever gotten. Looking for fun? You know who to call! 

Clifford the Big Red Dog review

CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG: 

BOOK-TO-FILM ADAPTATION IS HEARTFELT BUT ALSO RIDDLED WITH TIRESOME KIDS’ MOVIE TROPES AND POTTY HUMOR! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: ** out of 4

PARAMOUNT PICTURES

Emily-Elizabeth got a huge new friend in Clifford the Big Red Dog

 

            The enormously playful (As well as enormous literally) red dog from Norman Bridwell’s iconic children’s books comes to life in the film adaptation of Clifford the Big Red Dog. This wouldn’t be the first time Clifford appeared on the big screen as there was already an animated film that was released in theaters in 2004 known as Clifford’s Really Big Movie, which was based on the TV series that ran on PBS Kids…I didn’t see it, though I’m sure it’s a perfectly serviceable movie for children.

            I grew up on the Clifford books, though I don’t quite hold them as close to my heart as say Dr. Seuss, Arthur, or The Berenstain Bears, I still have a lot of fond memories reading many of the books as a child. I never watched the animated series on PBS Kids as it came out a bit after my time or the previous movie as previously mentioned, but I’ll always have a sense of nostalgia for the books. 

            Now, we have this live-action adaptation of Clifford directed by Walt Becker (National Lampoon’s Van Wilder, Wild Hogs, Old Dogs), who gave us the biggest movie of December 2015…Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip and produced by Jordan Kerner (The Mighty Ducks trilogy, George of the Jungle, Charlotte’s Web (2006)), the guy who produced Snow Dogs, Inspector Gadget, and The Smurfs franchise! I had extremely low expectations when the teaser trailer was released showing off the live-action/CG Clifford, it wasn’t original Sonic the Hedgehog movie design bad, but something about a realistic-looking giant red dog seemed…off to me. 

            Then again, I had low expectations when Paddington, Peter Rabbit, and Christopher Robin were coming out and those turned out okay (Great in Paddington’s case!), maybe Clifford could follow in the same footsteps as those films. Sadly, that is not the case! 

            Clifford the Big Red Dog isn’t a horrible movie, and it does have some genuinely heartfelt moments, but this dog can’t quite jump over the hurdles of tiresome kids’ movie tropes and a bland, uninspired script. Have you seen a children’s movie about a kid who gets a new friend or pet that happens to be magic, but eventually catches the attention of a corporate villain in a suit? Guess what, you’ve seen Clifford without even knowing it! 

            The film follows Emily Elizabeth Howard (Darby Camp-Big Little Lies, Benji (2018), The Christmas Chronicles 1 and 2), a girl who just moved to New York City and is a social outcast at her new school. When Emily is left in the hands of her clumsy yet good-natured Uncle Casey (Jack Whitehall-Fresh Meat, Bad Education (TV series), Jungle Cruise) while her mother, Maggie (Sienna Guillory-Resident Evil franchise, Eragon, Luther) is away on a business trip, the two of them come across an adorable but abnormally red puppy at an animal shelter run by the mysterious Mr. Bridwell (John Cleese-Monty Python’s Flying Circus, George of the Jungle, Shrek franchise) who gives the puppy to Emily which she names Clifford. 

            However, Clifford the Small Red Puppy (See what I did there?) suddenly grows overnight like magic into a giant, ten-foot hound and all sorts of wacky hijinks start to occur. Clifford is quickly noticed by the public and immediately catches the attention of a biotechnology company owner known as Zack Tieran (Tony Hale-Veep, The Angry Birds Movie 1 and 2, Toy Story 4) who wants to catch Clifford to experiment on him, not if Emily-Elizabeth and Uncle Casey have anything to say about it. 

            The film also stars David Alan Grier (In Living Color, Jumanji, A Series of Unfortunate Events (Netflix series)) as Mr. Packard, Izaac Wang (Good Boys, Raya and the Last Dragon, Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai) as Owen, Russell Wong (Vanishing Son, The Monkey King, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor) as Mr. Yu, Kenan Thompson (All That, Good Burger, Saturday Night Live), who also voiced the character Hamburger on the Cliffordanimated series, as Clifford’s veterinarian, Paul Rodriguez (Rat Race, Ali, The World’s Fastest Indian) as Sanchez, Russell Peters (Source Code, Chef, The Jungle Book (2016)) as Malik, Horatio Sanz (Saturday Night Live, Wreck-It Ralph, Ralph Breaks the Internet) as Rau, Rosie Perez (Do the Right Thing, In Living Color, White Men Can’t Jump) as Lucille, and Alex Moffat (Saturday Night Live, Uncle John, Ralph Breaks the Internet) as Albert. 

            Overall, Clifford the Big Red Dog may satisfy very young viewers, but despite best efforts from the cast, the film feels like a cheaply manufactured cash-grab that replaces most of the charm and magic of the books with an over-reliance on tiresome kids’ movie tropes, toilet humor, and modern slang. Remember the Clifford book when a character said, “Get lit” and used air quotes, or how about the one where someone holds a pug up to Clifford’s rear-end so it could sniff it, perhaps the one where he drinks out of the toilet or the one where he pees on a tree in the park and all the pee sprays all over Emily and Casey might suit you? My favorite is the one where Clifford farts in the back of a van and a kid has to smell it!

            Potty humor aside, the plot itself feels rehashed from other kids’ films, main character is an outcast, befriends a strange animal or creature resulting in something magical happening, the animal becomes a phenomenon, and the stock corporate villain wants to catch it. It’s as if the writers were given a checklist and special instructions by the studio to follow that checklist exactly, I feel like you could make a potentially good Clifford movie when given the right material or if the right people were helming it, this however makes me grateful that Paddington and Peter Rabbit didn’t fall into these generic kids’ movie traps. 

            I will give this film credit that it does try to have heart and most of the heartfelt moments are actually done pretty well. The scenes where Emily-Elizabeth and Clifford (Both as a small puppy and as a giant dog) are bonding with each other are quite sweet and the emotional highlights of the film, if those scenes weren’t there then this would easily be on par with the live-action Scooby-Doo movies, and even Clifford himself is very adorable and while it never looks like he’s really there, at least the CGI on him isn’t distractingly fake, unlike the dog from The Call of the Wild. 

            Clifford the Big Red Dog is harmless if you got little kids who really want to see it, but compared to other, better family films out, it isn’t much of a recommendation. For those feeling Clifford nostalgia on the other hand will have a much better time digging out their old childhood books from the attic than watch this bland and uninspired fluff. 

Kumoricon 2021 Recap