R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps series has
truly made an identity for itself. Ever since its debut in the early 90’s,
future generations have really gotten hooked on the series, and even schools
have warmed up to them within time, as a way of allowing kids to get into
reading. Looking at the books today, most of them are kind of silly, but there
are some memorable gems here and there.
In 1995, “Goosebumps” gained more
popularity in the form a TV show, with just about every episode being an
adaptation of the books. As a show for kids, it does have some good episodes,
but it really is a cheesy show with some of the most awkward direction and
performances you will ever see. Hell, even fans of the books admit that it has
some really weird executions. I should know, being one of the people who
watched the show and read the books.
During the turn of the decade, it
was announced that a film adaptation of the series was in development by Sony.
This caught my attention, but I was very skeptical about the project. Why? Two
names: Jack Black and Rob Letterman. Now don’t get me wrong, Jack Black’s a good
actor and comedian, and he’s shown his talent very nicely in “Bernie,” “School
of Rock,” “King Kong,” and the “Kung-Fu Panda” series. However, when he’s
working with Rob Letterman, it hasn’t turned out for the best, as seen in “Shark
Tale” and “Gulliver’s Travels.”
Regardless of my skepticism, I decided
to give the film a chance, especially with the trailers catching my curiosity. That,
and the script’s story was written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karazsewski,
the duo that wrote the scripts for “Ed Wood” and “Big Eyes.” So what did I
think of “Goosebumps?” Well, let’s take a look...
The story tells of Zach Cooper, who
moves into Madison, Delaware, with his mother, Gale. After hearing his next
door neighbor, Hannah, scream during the night, Zach assumes that her father is
hurting her, and tries to investigate with his friend of the town, Champ.
Things start to go south, when they accidentally release the monsters of the “Goosebumps”
books, and now they have to team with Hannah and her father, R.L. Stine, to
trap the monsters in and save the town.
Let me start off by saying the film
becomes very entertaining by the second act, because the first act is
crap. The pace is slow, the dialogue is incredibly bland, and is full of stock clichés
that are executed in the most standard way possible, making it really boring,
really fast.
There
were also a few supporting characters at the school that didn’t really have
much to do in the film. The popular kids, the principal, the flirty teacher; you could have
easily written them out of the film and it wouldn’t have made a difference. I
also wasn’t too enthralled by most of the monsters being CGI. I mean, it's decent
looking and I do understand that some of them could only work in CGI, but it
would have been nice to see more practical effects done with these creatures
like they were in the TV show. That, and it was a bit annoying how they didn’t
include the Monster Blood, one of the monsters that’s most iconic with the “Goosebumps”
series. That kind of sucks, especially when you consider that “Monster Blood IV”
ended the original series, so why not show it in this film?
Despite this, the rest of the film
does have a lot to enjoy. For starters, Jack Black as a fictional R.L. Stine is
pretty good. Instead of trying to do a dead on impersonation of Stine, Black
portrays the character as a shut-in who isn’t too fond with society, and it’s
only from working with the kids, that he becomes easier with the world. It’s cliché,
sure, but Black’s comedic timing and delivery makes it worth it. I especially
love his banter with Champ, played by Ryan Lee, leading to some of the film’s funniest
moments.
Dylan
Minnette, a young actor who’s appeared in “R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour”
series, as well as Hugh Jackman's son in "Prisoners," plays Zach. He’s pretty much our stock young lead, but he does do a
good job with what he’s given, and he does work off of the others really well.
His best scene comes from provoking Stine to admit his identity, by saying his
work sucks and comparing him to Stephen King, who Stine has a hatred for. It’s
a fitting joke, since R.L. Stine has been called “the Stephen King of children’s
literature.” Odeya Rush was pretty good in her performance as Hannah, and does
make the character interesting. Though I do have to admit, the writing with
this character was a bit predictable, especially with the twist they show us.
Plus, I wasn’t really too enthusiastic about the romance between her and Zach,
because of how forced it felt.
With
the scenes involving the monsters, they are very entertaining, and I thought it was
very fitting for Slappy the Evil Dummy, also played by Jack Black, to be the
villain of the film. It’s a shame they barely show him in the advertisements,
because he is a very enjoyable villain, and possibly the most iconic “Goosebumps”
monster. He’s got some very clever lines, he knows how to take control of the
situation, and I did like how he was an actual puppet for the most part.
Some
people have made a point about this film trying to be like "Ernest Scared Stupid," or “Jumanji,” or any
other adventure film from the 90’s like that. I do see where they’re coming
from, as it does have that feel, so depending on how you are on those kinds of
films will determine your opinion on this movie. As for me, I like those films, and
I did enjoy this film. Even if you’re not a “Goosebumps” fan, it’s still a
harmless film with some really good moments after the first act. If you got
kids or little siblings that want to see a movie for Halloween and your local
theater isn’t playing “Hotel Transylvania 2,” then I’d say give this film a
watch.
Rating:
7/10
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