Review: G-Force (Hoyt Yeatman)

[nebroadwe]

Yesterday afternoon I went to see G-Force with kanja177 and nateprentice's children. I'd seen the trailer with Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince last weekend and wasn't expecting much. So I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be half kiddie movie and half deadpan send-up of all those eighties-nineties-oughties action flicks starring actual humans. Most of the A-listers in the cast (apart Bill Nighy) are responsible for the voice work and disappear respectably into it (I would never have recognized Nicholas Cage and realized who Steve Buscemi was only in retrospect). The B-listers, as the human protagonists and antagonists, shine by taking their limited roles for what they are and playing the clichés with a seriousness that occasionally put me in mind of Buster Keaton. The script has some perfunctory moments -- particularly the afterschool-special moral-of-the-week scene, which seemed insufficiently prepared for -- but mostly holds up. The kids only had to ask a couple of questions about what was going on, and I honestly didn't see the twist at the end coming (and was hard put not to howl with laughter at the revelation of the chief villain's motivation, looming father figure and all. kanja177, on the other hand, was reduced to tears of mirth at the juxtaposition of Orff's "O Fortuna" and a manic chase through a local fireworks display). I give the filmmakers props for NOT including a guinea pig romance, but instead spoofing the who-the-girl-really-wants cliché into oblivion. But that leads me to the one serious caveat I have with this film as children's entertainment. If you're an adult and have seen the action flicks this production is meta-ing into humor, you can recognize that the gender and ethnic fail is being played with an awareness of its inherent silliness, but if you're a child, you won't -- and there's the team led by the serious white guy, ably seconded by the sexy Hispanic chick and the loudmouthed black dude, with the computer nerd in the basement and a goofy white civilian who's drafted in by accident but turns out to be a hero after all. Um.

I can't recommend this film to adults for solo viewing -- there's really not enough entertainment for the mature mind to enjoy without a kid in tow -- but if you do take a kid to see it, you probably won't find yourself falling asleep partway through (if only because the soundtrack never lets UP) and may wish to clue said kid in to the nature of the humor, as appropriate.

kanja177, herself a guinea pig owner, would probably wish me to pass on the information that, despite what the film suggests, guinea pigs are not built to roll around in balls and wheels like hamsters; their backs won't take it. This has been a public service announcement.

Comments

[mulzrule.livejournal.com]

I actually thought it was pretty funny, partially for all the wrong reasons owning a pig myself. Sometimes they were so serious I died laughing. The only thing that really irritated me about the ethnicity was the obnoxious pet store owner, (That was a bit overkill) but I think that's just cuz she was annoying. This is Disney we're talking about after all so growing up with it you just sort of expect it.

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

Sometimes they were so serious I died laughing.

The entire first action sequence, played completely straight except for the fact that all the secret agents were guinea pigs, had me chuckling the whole time. All the jargon ... and the intrusive civilian being a non-CGI squirrel ... [snortle]

This is Disney we're talking about after all so growing up with it you just sort of expect it.

I admit that, while watching the trailer for The Princess and the Frog and hitting the scene where they say something like "... in the tradition of Disney's most beloved classics ..." over a brief shot of a bunch of dark-skinned people hoofing it on the porch of a wooden cabin, I leaned over to my companion and whispered, "Like Song of the South?" ;-p

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

Speaking of The Princess and the Frog, I could swear when I did some research about a billion years ago, that story was taken from an African storyline and the frog turns out to be a monster and eats the princess for being such a rude little creature. However, I can't find anything to back this up. Did I dream this?

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

Hmm. That's not one I've run across, but my knowledge of the frog prince only goes back to the Brothers Grimm. If I get a moment, I'll toddle upstairs to Stith-Thompson and see if they have anything to say on the matter.

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

I wonder if I've mixed up my stories...Dana was sure it was European in nature and wiki says it's specifically German.

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

Still trying to get upstairs and check the motif index -- people keep asking me to catalog books at work, for some reason.

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

JEEZE. What do they think you do there?

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

Hanged if I know. You'd think a person could be left in peace to surf the Internet, but noooo ...

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

Don't they know you have important stuff to do?

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

I had to take an actual half-vacation day just to get them to let me loose to see a baseball game. I tell you!

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

Geeze! Do they think you come there to actually...earn money or something?

[mulzrule.livejournal.com]

Hehe I think the mole takes the cake for seriousness and jargon giggles. Dad and I got looks from the people in front of us cuz we had to laugh at Speckle's revenge sob story. Make the humans crawl! Crawl dammit!

Ah Disney traditions! That preview made me roll my eyes more then once but at least it's back to the older animation and not affiliated with Pixar. I like the stories from Pixar but the computer animation really turns me off.

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

Hehe I think the mole takes the cake for seriousness and jargon giggles. Dad and I got looks from the people in front of us cuz we had to laugh at Speckle's revenge sob story. Make the humans crawl! Crawl dammit!

Exactly! We had to explain the "looming father figure" thing to the kids, but kanja177 and I both hooted.

Ah Disney traditions! That preview made me roll my eyes more then once but at least it's back to the older animation and not affiliated with Pixar. I like the stories from Pixar but the computer animation really turns me off.

De gustibus non est disputandum. Like you, I give Pixar enormous props for their storytelling, and the animation style never bothered me much one way or the other. I do think the rush to abandon 2-D is overblown, however. It's not the medium that makes Pixar so successful, guys -- it's the message.

[mulzrule.livejournal.com]

"It's not the medium that makes Pixar so successful, guys -- it's the message."

Amen sistah! As for the messages in this flick, now I'm wondering how many guinea pigs will suffer death by chocolate for being forced to imitate Hurley. Or are poisoned from eating lipstick/nail polish for the sake of Juarez. *head/desk* Though I can't deny that my guinea pigs in the past didn't have their own sports car... heh >_

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

As for the messages in this flick, now I'm wondering how many guinea pigs will suffer death by chocolate for being forced to imitate Hurley. Or are poisoned from eating lipstick/nail polish for the sake of Juarez. *head/desk*

Not if kanja177 can help it. She's spreading the word where she can.

[mulzrule.livejournal.com]

Good I'm not alone. Pig lovers unite!

[nateprentice.livejournal.com]

Thanks for taking the kids. I had a good nap and was not subjected to my _A Clockwork Orange_ moment that I was anticipating.

Make it stop! Make it stop!

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

Glad you were able to put your eyelids down for a bit. :-)