Monster House

Movie #12

This movie is a lot of fun, and I was genuinely creeped out a couple of times. I wish they'd made it just a little creepier, just a little closer to the edge. That would be the difference between the good movie that it is, and the gem that it could've been. Although this is an animated film, I would compare it more to The Goonies or The Sandlot in feel. It's for an older audience, and the kids aren't as perfectly precious as they are in most kids' movies. The best of the bunch is Chowder (who owes quite a bit to Chunk from The Goonies), the funnest kid character I've seen onscreen this year.

I'm still not comfortable with animated humans. They can't really make faces; the animation doesn't have enough built-in musculature to make that possible. I was surprised to learn that this movie was animated the same way as The Polar Express – they actually taped the actors and then animated after the fact. Which allows for a lot of gesturing, and a change in facial expression every few seconds, but that doesn't add up to a realistic human face. If that doesn't distract you, you'll probably enjoy this movie even more than I did.