While watching "Monster House" I found myself trying to ignore inconsistencies in the story, but they kept cropping up. For example, I kept wondering why only children ever noticed anything wrong with the house. Even if no one else saw anything, the house was terrifically noisy throughout. Especially when the house began dragging itself through the neighborhood in pursuit of the children, it seemed impossible for others not to notice.
Also, though I was willing to suspend disbelief, there seemed to be no reason for any attraction between the old man and his wife, unless he simply had a fetish. Nothing about the wife's circumstances made sense, anyway. At least her history only came out near the end.
The best thing about the movie was the main characters' well-developed personalities. Though the animation was somewhat strange, the children were especially fully and realistically developed and their facial expressions were marvelous. At times, I felt like I was watching real people.
The one thing that spoiled the movie for me was this: Though both the policemen were stereotypical cop buffoons, the rookie cop--the only black character in the film-- was offensive. His round rolling eyes, "humorous" mental slowness and mannerisms were too much like the racially stereotypical comedy popular in 1920's-1930's. I am a white person, and this sort of characterization was out of place. It left me wondering how it would be received by my African-American friends and their children. As I exited the theater, I felt bemused that this type of "humor" had been done, especially since I thought Spielberg or someone ought to have been more aware. All I can hope is that those negative racial stereotypes are far enough in the past that most of today's audiences do not associate them with "Amos and Andy", et. al., though they're still around in old movies.
Over all, I think I would have preferred to have rented the movie, instead of paying theater prices to see it.
Also, though I was willing to suspend disbelief, there seemed to be no reason for any attraction between the old man and his wife, unless he simply had a fetish. Nothing about the wife's circumstances made sense, anyway. At least her history only came out near the end.
The best thing about the movie was the main characters' well-developed personalities. Though the animation was somewhat strange, the children were especially fully and realistically developed and their facial expressions were marvelous. At times, I felt like I was watching real people.
The one thing that spoiled the movie for me was this: Though both the policemen were stereotypical cop buffoons, the rookie cop--the only black character in the film-- was offensive. His round rolling eyes, "humorous" mental slowness and mannerisms were too much like the racially stereotypical comedy popular in 1920's-1930's. I am a white person, and this sort of characterization was out of place. It left me wondering how it would be received by my African-American friends and their children. As I exited the theater, I felt bemused that this type of "humor" had been done, especially since I thought Spielberg or someone ought to have been more aware. All I can hope is that those negative racial stereotypes are far enough in the past that most of today's audiences do not associate them with "Amos and Andy", et. al., though they're still around in old movies.
Over all, I think I would have preferred to have rented the movie, instead of paying theater prices to see it.