Post by StevePulaski on Sept 28, 2012 22:00:08 GMT -5
John Goodman as Fred Flintstone.
Rating: ★½
I will confess and say that I was never a fan of the original Flintstones cartoon. I'm usually the one to jump on board and support poorly animated shows from the dawn of animated programs, but The Flintstones never resonated to me as anything more than a one note joke breathlessly carried out for an overwhelming one hundred and sixty-six shorts. Its setups were tired, its jokes cliche, and its characters bland and one dimensional.
The film adaptation is more of the same, with one gleaming flaw from the start; its live action transfer. May I ask why? Why does the film industry continue to force programs that were born to be animated into the live action format. A way to save money is my only guess. But if you would stick to the old animation, wouldn't more people show up? Bottom line; The Flintstones was cheesy and completely cartoony with its slapstick, its ridiculous use of dinosaurs and prehistoric lifeforms as common household appliances, and its more subtle quirks that made the show memorable. All of those worked because it was all animated - you could never envision this happening in real life. Why would you want to?
Our story begins with Cliff Vandercave (Kyle MacLachlan) discussing to a co-worker how he plans to take over the company Slate & Co. by looking like he is working hard on improving it while he is simultaneously shafting it out of much-needed cash. He plans on using Fred Flintstone in order to carry out this plan. Fred is played by John Goodman and his best pal Barney is played by Rick Moranis. To be fair, both men inhabit their roles nicely. Goodman is the go-to man to play Fred and while Moranis seems to not be built like the cartoon Barney, one must recognize that he does a faithful job at bringing the character to life.
The same can be said for Elizabeth Perkins, playing Wilma, Fred's long-suffering wife, but the same can not be said for the woefully miscast Rosie O'Donnell as Betty, Barney's wife. One look at the cartoon Betty and Rosie O'Donnell and the resemblance is far beyond distant.
Basically, Fred gets appointed the honorable job of being the vice president of Slate & Co. and it comes as no surprise that he lets the power get to his head and shortchanges his best friend Barney which starts by firing him. From there, it's all cliche best friend breakup arguments, tired sight gags, and a helluva lot of unfunny rock puns.
The set design, at first, is welcoming and nice to look at. But after ninety long minutes of staring at rock buildings, CGI dinosaurs, and poorly crafted slapstick jokes, the endeavor goes from welcoming to downright bloated. The CGI, just as well, is uninspired, especially on Dino, who goes down as one of the most incessant and unnecessary characters of this decade. He's buffoonish, annoying, and transfers about as well to the big screen as Scooby-Doo did in 2002.
The Flintstones is a rather monotonous adventure, much like how the show was. Its jokes become stale too quickly, its premise is dated (not pun intended), and even the slightly humorous little tidbits such as the creatures of Bedrock working as household appliances becomes unfunny because of the way they look in the film. Also, the film's concern with plot points that are likely not appealing to kids (or even adults in that respect) can't rebound the film's already ridiculous setup and ideas.
Starring: John Goodman, Rick Moranis, Elizabeth Perkins, Rosie O'Donnell, and Kyle MacLachlan. Directed by: Brian Levant.