The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle
for brief mild language.
Reviewed by: Scott Ward
CONTRIBUTOR
| Moral Rating: | Better than Average |
| Moviemaking Quality: |
|
| Primary Audience: | Children and Family |
| Genre: | Animation Live Action Adventure Fantasy Comedy |
| Length: | 1 hr. 45 min. |
| Year of Release: | 2000 |
| USA Release: |
June 30, 2000 |
| Featuring | Jason Alexander, Rene Russo, Randy Quaid, Robert De Niro, Piper Perabo |
| Director |
Des McAnuff |
| Producer | Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal |
| Distributor |
Ahh… the joys of Saturday morning TV. So often, studios have turned the cartoons we enjoyed so much as kids into live-action, overbloated disappointments. Now, Universal brings us “The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle”.
I entered the theatre with some trepidation: was this the same R&B I enjoyed between smatterings of “Fractured Fairy Tales” and “Sherman and Mr. Peabody”? Short answer: yes. Aside from a few items, Rocky and Bullwinkle do indeed live on the silver screen.
Of course, Rocky and Bullwinkle are a flying squirrel and moose who live in Frostbite Falls, MN, a town which has suffered since the cancellation of the R&B television show. Everything has changed, except our heroes… and our villains.
Fearless Leader (Robert De Niro, “Taxi Driver” and “Raging Bull”) leads his two agents of evil, Boris (played with perfection by Jason Alexander, “Seinfeld”, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”) and Natasha (with equal perfection by Rene Russo, “Lethal Weapon 4,” “Ransom”) to the 3-D world in hopes of taking over the world. The FBI sends agent Karen Sympathy (newcomer Piper Perabo) to get R&B. What follows is a plot that goes from the deserts of Arizona, to the deserts of Oklahoma, to Bullwinkle’s alma mater, to… well, you get the idea.
Indeed, from an artistic point of view, you do get the idea, just not the entire story… and that’s the way they want it. Just like every other adventure the twosome have had, the movie is episodic, has numerous pointless side trips, and ends up just being a big barrel of fun.
There’s not too much to get offended at, either. I did knock off a few points for a completely unnecessary d*mn, and for a scene where Boris and Natasha share a tub, but then, they are evil… Karen Sympathy lies, but the lies are treated as a very bad thing that she did in order to repress her good, fun loving true nature.
In conclusion, “R&B” is a silly movie that should please fans and families alike. It’s not intelligent, but then I always suspected Bullwinkle’s degree was honorary.
Other than this brief scene, the movie did include a single curse word (damn) and several uses of the Lord’s name in vain. I am particularly offended when God’s name is used outside of the context of total reverance and respect for our Lord. While these few things were bothersome to me, it was certainly appropriate to talk with our children about these issues after the movie. It was a good time to talk about the fun and funny things as well…
Overall, I felt the movie was o.k. to take the family to for a light comedic evening. …This film did portray the main characters, Rocky and Bullwinkle, as being very concerned with telling the truth and having integrity. I appreciated these qualities being promoted. Take the family out and enjoy! [3½/3]
A couple of uncalled for moments: Boris and Natasha are shown in a tub together at one point. I do not know if they are married or not, but if they’re not, at least evil is portrayed in a negative light. Karen misuses God’s name after Rocky’s fall, plus the judge does it twice when she realizes who R&B are; not needed. Both moments alone are only 15 seconds of the 90 or so minute movie and the latter thing is done during Karen’s “care only about results” stage. If only the Hays Code was around and God’s name was not misused. I would give this movie an “excellent” rating, otherwise.
Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 4