The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle
Review by Jason Gaston
Ah, to be a kid again and to revel in the harmless fun of the old
Rocky and Bullwinkle show. Well, that show has been canceled
for about 35 years now and that, my friends, is the main story hook to
the moose and squirrel's big screen debut in The Adventures of
Rocky and Bullwinkle, where those two hapless cartoon stars of
yesteryear are yanked from the monotony of reruns and into the
dangerous domain of the real world to stop Boris, Natasha, and
Fearless Leader from taking over the world by forcing them to watch
really bad television.
In The
Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Rocky and Bullwinkle are
rendered into impressive looking fully three-dimensional characters
which interact seamlessly with their real live counterparts. Jason
Alexander and Rene Russo are perfect as Boris and Natasha and, in a
sheer stroke of genius, Robert DeNiro plays Fearless Leader even going
so far as to parody his famous "Are you talkin' to me?" line from
Taxi Driver. Robert DeNiro, I salute you!
This movie is like an acid flashback to childhood as Rocky and
Bullwinkle are forced to deal with strange and mysterious things like
the internet, fax machines, and hip hop. Add to that tons and tons of
shameless star cameos from Janine Garafalo to Jonathan Winters, to
John Goodman, to Whoopie Goldburg and you've got yourself a good time
for the young and the old.
Sure, the movie is full of bad puns, hackneyed dialogue, and awful
jokes (which were really a staple of the old Rocky and Bullwinkle
show), but the situation is so innocent and lighthearted that you
eventually have no choice but to embrace and love it like you did when
you were a kid. This off the wall road trip is best movie of it's kind
since Who Framed Roger Rabbit?.