Seriously, though, Gremlins totally counts as a Christmas movie. I dare you to try and convince me it's not. It's also one of the quintessential movies of the '80s. Gremlins is a perfect blend of horror and comedy, and if you're one of the poor souls who've never seen it, allow me to tell you why you should.
It's Christmastime in Kingston Falls, a cozy suburban town called home by amateur inventor Rand Peltzer (Hoyt Axton). I say "amateur" because the gadgets he creates are mostly crap that don't work right. While visiting a curio shop in Chinatown one night, Rand finds a small, furry creature called a Mogwai (voiced by Howie Mandel). However, the shop's elderly owner refuses to let him buy it despite needing the money. The owner's grandson goes behind his back and sells it to Rand in secret, telling him that owning the Mogwai comes with three rules:
- Never expose it to bright light, especially sunlight.
- Never get it wet.
- Never feed it after midnight.
Rand brings the Mogwai home to his adult son, Billy (Zach Galligan), who is thrilled with his new pet. Naming it "Gizmo," Billy forms a quick bond with the little furball. But because of how movies like this go, you know those rules will be broken.
A random accident causes Gizmo to get wet, resulting in several more Mogwai spawning from his back. These Mogwai prove to be far more devious than Gizmo, which is further evidenced when they trick Billy into feeding them after midnight. This causes them to metamorphose into green-skinned creatures with a thirst for anarchy and mayhem. But what began as a few becomes an entire army of gremlins, one focused on creating as much chaos as possible in the streets of Kingston Falls.
I can summarize Gremlins in one word: awesome. It's a spectacular flick that is nothing but fun from start to finish. It's one of those classic '80s movies that can be enjoyed by kids and adults alike. Well, kids above a certain age, that is. Let's not forget that Gremlins is a blend of both comedy and horror, and it doesn't skimp on the horror. Younger children probably shouldn't be watching the movie, even if it does have a PG rating. But nevertheless, Gremlins is still a fantastic movie with a little something for pretty much everybody, and I can't recommend it enough.
At the helm is Joe Dante, who does an admirable job with Gremlins. His direction is great, building an atmosphere that's strangely both dark and lighthearted. I know that sounds conflicting, but it works. It works and it actually makes the movie better. Dante has a ton of elements at his disposal, and he puts all of them to excellent use. Whether it be the moody lighting, John Hora's awesome cinematography, or Jerry Goldsmith's absolutely fantastic music, Dante performs well with what he's got. He uses each of those to build suspense and make the movie pretty darn frightening at times, though he often follows the scares with a bit of humor to lighten the mood. And it boasts a certain sense of adventure and whimsy to it on top of all that, but I guess that's to be expected. Pretty much all of the movie Steven Spielberg produced or directed during the '80s were like that.
The movie was also written by Chris Columbus, who's had a lengthy career writing family movies. I even reviewed two of them during my marathon of Christmas reviews last year. But we're to talk about Gremlins, not Home Alone or Home Alone 2, so I'll say that Columbus's script is quite good. The characters are all likable and amusing in their own ways, with the exception of the evil Mrs. Deagle. She's basically as close to a live-action Cruella de Vil as anyone got before Glenn Close was hired for the 101 Dalmations remake. Mrs. Deagle is a vile, nasty woman who could have made a credible villain on her own. But once the gremlins show up, her story arc pretty much stops, having gone nowhere. I think the only reason Columbus included her in the script at all was so you'd be able to cheer for at least one thing the gremlins do.
I also thought the rules of Mogwai care were a bit too loosely defined, specifically the "no eating before midnight" one. How much of a window past midnight is there before you can feed them? You could make the argument that you couldn't feed them until at least noon, or even at all (since it's technically always after midnight). And which midnight is it? With the different time zones, it would have been after midnight in the rest of the world before it was in Kingston Falls. And what if you cross a time zone line after midnight? Go ten feet across that line and it's still 11:00, so what if you feed a Mogwai there and cross back into the midnight time zone? It's all complicated and weird, and I still get a laugh out of how it was parodied in Gremlins 2.
Speaking of things parodied in the sequel, how about Phoebe Cates's character's monologue about why she doesn't like Christmas? It doesn't serve any sort of purpose, either for the plot or for character development. And it's a real buzzkill, too. The movie was rolling along at a pretty steady pace, making sure everybody's having a good time, then BOOM! This scene happens and kills the momentum dead. It's no fault of Cates's, because she's good in the scene. It's just that it's not only completely irrelevant in regards to the rest of the movie, but it's just too morbid. Gremlins is simple scary fun outside of that one scene, which is just too depressing to fit in with the rest of the movie.
I could spend all day ranting about that scene or the flaws in the three rules, but I don't want to bore you to death. So let's move along to the cast. I really liked Zach Galligan as the movie's primary protagonist; he plays the role with a down-to-Earth charm that makes you like him as soon as he appears onscreen. The same can be said for Phoebe Cates, who was two years removed from her star-making role in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. She plays Billy's girlfriend Kate in Gremlins, and her performance is sweet and engaging. I don't know if her character is really that important to the movie outside of being the token love interest, but Cates is great all the same.
Hoyt Axton also provided a lot of humor as Rand Peltzer, the inventor who constantly tries peddling his creations to people yet fails to realize none of them work right. Axton's earnestness in the role makes him that much more entertaining. Also appearing in the movie is Dick Miller, a character actor who's been in more movies than I could probably count. Of all the movies he appeared in, I believe Gremlins marks his best performance. Miller only has three or four scenes in the movie, but he's a lot of fun in all of them. The rest of the cast have small, thankless roles (including Corey Feldman, of all people), but they're all fantastic too. They each make fine contributions to the movie, and Gremlins is better for them.
And before this review ends, I've got to touch on the special effects it took to create the Mogwai and gremlins. I mean, how could I review a movie about little monsters and not actually talk about the little monsters? Designed by Chris Walas, the creatures were a combination of puppets and animatronics, and they're all amazing. The effects are convincing and believable, even in the brief instances when they look kinda fake. There's just something about the fact that the gremlins and Mogwai are actually on the set interacting with the props and actors that make it that much cooler. I'm not knocking CGI, but I just wish movies would lean towards practical effects whenever they can. There's just something about it that CGI can't touch.
Twenty-six years after its release, Gremlins still holds up as a truly great movie. There's no arguing that at all. Every time I watch it, I come away with a smile on my face because I'd had an hour and 45 minutes of straight-up fun. Each second, from the first to the last, is pure entertainment. And because of that, I'm giving Gremlins four stars and a proud recommendation. I'm still upset, though, that its success led to Hobgoblins. That's just something I can't stomach.
Final Rating: ****
No comments:
Post a Comment