A young extraterrestrial, separated from its family and stranded on Earth escapes from NASA into an unknown environment. He meets a boy in a wheelchair who helps him in this trying time in a story where two boys worlds apart become the best of friends. Mac and Me is quite an infamous title that I'm sure most people know of, even if they haven't watched it. Taking a simple look at it gives you everything you would possibly need to know about it. This film is at its foremost, anE.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) knock-off, and frankly, a terrible one at that. The amount of parallels and straight-up scene-for-scene copies between the two products is painfully obvious. However, they take it one further by throwing heaps of product placements at you in what could be a devised method to distract us, viewers, from the close similarities. Now there are plenty of reviews out there with most being as harsh as you would expect but, in all honesty, this is a film I would probably deem as so bad it's good, although that's not to say all of it is 'good'. The best way I'd describe this movie would be as some kind of fever dream. You spend so much of your time questioning what is going on, or simply reality itself, as so many bizarre moments befall us in this adventure. The story opens on a distant planet being observed by a robot from NASA that accidentally sucks up an alien family where it departs back for Earth. Escaping the contraption the family is separated from one child, who manages to escape into a passing vehicle during the search. This car belongs to the Cruise family made up of mother Janet, and her sons the older Michael and youngest Eric, who are on their way to their new home. Unbeknownst to them, a stowaway is aboard. Once at their home, Eric begins to notice some peculiar things and despite his efforts, no one will believe him, that is except for the neighbour's youngest member, Debbie. As you can imagine, hijinks ensue as they attempt to capture the creature to prove its existence with traps, but to no avail. However, once finally caught, Michael believes them and helps to keep him secret from the mother and those hunting him as they band together with Debbie's older sister, Courtney, to find Mac's family. Does some of this sound a little familiar yet? To top it off, they recreate some of E.T.'s iconic moments, like the sequence where they are chased down the road on bikes. They do the same thing but with Eric in his wheelchair. Now, the actor for Eric, Jade Calegory, has spina bifida and uses a wheelchair in real life. In a way, I was happy he got a chance to appear in a leading role in a movie with his condition, although it is a shame it had to be this one. When this movie isn't attempting to tell its own 'original' story, we spend the majority of that time being hammered with product placement that is so in your face, that I'm surprised it didn't break through the screen and into my hand. We see plenty throughout, like Coca-Cola, Skittles and most especially, McDonald's. There is a dedicated segment spent in one where (and I am deadly serious when I say this) everyone gets up and dances, joined by Mac disguised as a teddy bear who everyone thinks is a special toy. I honestly cringed when it came on. I cannot help but physically crawl into a ball, it is unbelievable, and it only gets worse when Ronald McDonald shows his face. The remainder of the story centres on finding Mac's family to reunite them all, whilst fending off the humans who want to shoot first. My favourite part has to be the ending, which is mind-boggling madness with the aliens becoming citizens before driving off in their pink car. I sat in complete disbelief that only furthered with an ending note, 'We'll Be Back!', which in fact, they didn't, as it never happened. Overall, Mac and Me spends too much time copying its story, ripping scenes from E.T. and shoving products down your throat. I was able to have fun with it and plenty of laughs (mostly in scenes not intending to be funny), but, at the end of the day, it is still a bad movie, which I know many would agree upon. It's an important movie in the world of cinema for all the wrong reasons. I'd recommend checking out E.T. for the grander experience.
Billy Tepper is the leader of a group of rebellious boys at The Regis School. He has already been expelled, from three prominent private schools. Billy, all their friends and many other kids at the school have very influential and prominent if more law-abiding, parents. His best friend, Joey Trotta, for instance, is the son of the Head of the New York Mafia. When terrorist, Luis Cali's father is put in jail, he heads for the school to put the son of the judge in charge of the case under hostage, only to find he has been removed. However, once he realises who the parents of the rest are, he decides the entire Regis School would be an even better bargaining chip. Toy Soldiers was one of those movies that came as a pleasant surprise. I had no idea of what to expect going in as I had seen nothing or heard anything about it, but was extremely intrigued and I saw many recognisable cast members. I had gauged that this film followed a bit of a Die Hard (1988) inspired vibe which seemed quite heavy in the 90s for some reason with films like Under Siege (1992), The Rock (1996), Con Air (1997), etc and many Die Hard sequels of course. Each one took inspiration from the idea of terrorists taking over 'blank' for such and such. They all put a spin on the idea, mainly with a new location to take place on from a battleship to an island, plane or in this case, a school and instead of a massive action hero-style figure thrown into the mix of a conflict, it's a school boy. Whilst taking influence from the other products, Toy Soldiers manages to feel different. It takes on its own style becoming in itself unique, and I love it for that. We follow a group of boys from the exclusive school and their introduction best displays their nature going forward as they play pranks and graffiti over the 'Regis' on the sign to 'Rejects'. These kids are troublesome, like the risk and danger but especially have difficulty with any authority, which only sets them up for their inevitable fight against the imminent terrorist threat. One teacher, Dean Parker, however, takes it upon himself to accept the challenge of making sure these kids graduate despite their mischievous actions or misbehaviours, especially Billy. Billy is our main protagonist and the ring leader of the miscreants causing the most pranks and rebellious nature in the school. Whilst it has gotten him kicked out of several other schools and has caused him trouble in this one, this time it is the much-needed quality that will not only save his life but the other 91 hostages. Once the terrorist group arrives led by the ruthless Luis Cali, Billy is launched into a frantic battle for survival aided by his friends, Joey, Snuffy, Ricky and Hank. Each member of this group of friends really comes together, each bringing a special skill or talent to the mission at hand like, for example, Joey sketching the faces of the terrorists to deliver to the outside FBI, army forces and Dean who works endlessly to ensure the kids return to safety. Working together using their ingenuity they can accomplish leaps and bounds in many field areas from finding escape routes, synchronising their actions to distract guards and gathering information to deliver to the outside forces waiting at the border. Unfortunately, their efforts are prohibited by the strict rules laid out by Luis, especially the one where they must all return at the bell every hour to be counted and if one person is missing, five people will die. Luis and others don't mess as their horrific tendencies carry over to their occupation of the school as they fight off opposing forces trying to get in as well as their treatment of students who fail at following orders. I love the idea of kids fighting back against an evil force occupying their school. They really get their time to shine and make fools of the attackers plus there are some incredible action sequences in the film to admire with some fantastic thrilling segments to boot. Overall, Toy Soldiers is a gripping story that is full of highs, lows, explosive action, riveting drama and friendship. The cast is phenomenal and their characters are equally exceptional. If you love Die Hard or simply looking for a rollercoaster of thrills, then this is one to hop on to, especially since the whole film is free on YouTube.
Former carnival performer Hubert Hawkins and maid Jean are assigned to protect the infant royal heir from tyrannical King Roderick I. While Jean takes the baby to an abbey, Hawkins gains access to the court by impersonating the king's jester, unaware that the jester is an assassin hired by scheming Sir Ravenhurst. When Princess Gwendolyn, falls for Hawkins, a witch secretly aids him in becoming a knight. The Court Jester is arguably one of the grandest pieces of entertainment to come out of the 1950s. It takes so many elements from comedy, action, musical numbers, romance, sense of adventure and so much more, pushing them to their fullest. This film gives that true grand big-screen production aura too, which I simply adore. From towering set pieces, extravagant action segments in the wide open halls of the castle to a clearing in the woods for acrobatic displays, there are plenty of beautiful shots and imagery to draw you in with its immense scope. Equally drawing us in is the use of such bright vibrant colours. With colour beginning to be more present during the 50's, movies like this one made good use of it, showing it in all its glory. There are lush green landscapes, striking rich outfits, bright blue skies and a vast array of more explosive colours to delight our senses. Alongside the overwhelming beauty of this film, another exceptional aspect of this picture is the cast. Naturally, Danny Kaye steals the show displaying a tremendous range of talent with his singing, tongue-twisting dialogue, witty humour, switching between roles in an instant and showing a constant tremendous amount of energy. Kaye's character, Hubert Hawkins, is easily the star both in the sense of story but also as a joyful highlight to follow in this wacky caper. Being a former carnival performer, Hawkins' acrobatic agility is shown in full swing alongside his ability to sing and play. Whilst a musical film, it doesn't quite follow in the footsteps of others where a character would randomly burst into a song out of nowhere, they lead into it in a way that fits with the story or moment. My favourite however doesn't feature in the movie but is played during the opening credits where Hawkins moves and interacts with the text whilst singing about what we are in store for in this adventure. Hawkins is the minstrel to the Black Fox who is thrown into the dangerous task of escorting and caring for a baby who is the rightful heir but is currently hunted by an unjust king. He is accompanied by Jean (played by Glynis Johns) whom he falls for and with her help, they concoct a plan to infiltrate into the castle upon knocking out the king's jester who stumbled upon them. From then on out, the film truly goes wild as Hawkins enters the midst of the lion's den pretending to be Giacomo who turns out was a hired assassin with orders to kill the king by Sir Ravenhurst. There are so many crazy moments that ensue from a bewitchment by the witch Griselda that can be triggered at the snap of a finger, the king's daughter, Princess Gwendolyn (played by Angela Lansbury) thinking he is her one true love, a rival interest in the princess challenging him for her hand and so much more. There are plenty of bewildering moments that are only brought to their full entertainment by the comical Hawkins like the snapping bringing him in and out of a trance on multiple occasions much to his confusion. One of the more iconic segments involves the tongue twister scene involving a poisonous drink with the line, "The pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle; the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true!" It is such a fun line that is frequently quoted by viewers and is equally made enjoyable by the constant confusion of the words that puts Hawkins in a dilemma. The film excels with its later fights that are so extravagant, with the entire brawl of the Black Fox's men to Hawkins and Ravenhurst's duel that is unbelievably quick and truly a sight to behold. Overall, The Court Jester is a tremendous experience full of wonderfully weird twists and turns, songs, action, romance and comedic attributes. It makes for some brilliant family viewing or a perfect delight to sit back relax and have a few laughs. A true cinematic classic to behold.
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