Honey, I Shrunk the Kids

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids will always hold a special place in my heart. Growing up in Canada and being obsessed with Ghostbusters meant that I was predisposed to love any movie featuring Rick Moranis. Couple that with the fact that the movie was accompanied by an original Roger Rabbit cartoon, it was like Disney was marketing the movie directly to me. And, as if that weren't enough, not long after the movie came out, my family and I went to Disney World. There, in what was then known as MGM Studios, my Sister and I were picked out of the crowd and given the opportunity to ride the giant bee prop used in the film. They filmed us riding the bee to demonstrate how the actors were incorporated into the flying sequence. We were supposed to act scared but the two of us were smiling ear to ear in the footage. It remains one of my most cherished memories of that trip. Watching the movie again as an adult brought back a lot of those warm nostalgic feelings, but I would hesitate to say that the movie is a classic. The effects hold up pretty well and the performances are all good, but the characters are very boilerplate. I was amused to discover that, much like Monster Squad, the movie contains a troubled marriage subplot that did not, in any way, register with me when I watched it as a child.

Rating: 65%

(Image from Wikipedia)

The Incredible Shrinking Man

Scott Carey was a typical man, living out the 1950s equivalent of the American Dream. But after a chance encounter with a mysterious fog bank, he begins to shrink. At first, no one believes him. Before long, his diminishing size becomes undeniable. Scientists struggle to understand his condition, working feverishly to find a cure. Scott's dwindling size begins to put stress on his marriage. No longer able to work, his attempts to cash in on his infamy only lead to intense public and media scrutiny. He withdraws further and further into himself as he shrinks, taking out his frustration on his wife. Then one day she accidentally leaves the front door open and Butch, the family cat, gets into the house and begins to hunt Scott like it would a mouse. Barely escaping the cat, Scott is then trapped in his cellar, where his life and death struggles truly begin. Even though I don't think Scott is a particularly sympathetic character (he's a chauvinist who comes really close to cheating on his wife at one point in the movie) he has the pathos of a film noir character. He narrates the film, mythologizing his journey along the way. The Incredible Shrinking Man actually has a surprising amount of depth. I can see how the themes of the movie could be interpreted in a number of ways. It can be enjoyed easily enough on a surface level, but I'm also willing to bet that there are some Men's Rights Activists out there praising the movie and using it to justify all sorts of repugnant shit.

Rating: 70%

(Image from Wikipedia)