MouseHunt has a plot that wouldn't have looked out of place in a Tom & Jerry cartoon. The idea is very simple. Two brothers inherit a rundown house from their late father. Hoping to renovate it, and auction it off to the highest bidder, they first have to evict a mouse that's made its home there. And what follows is an increasingly hilarious series of outlandish schemes, traps and slapstick.
The plot may be wafer-thin, and it is really a one joke film, but I love MouseHunt! It really is that funny. Director Gore Verbinski knows all about cartoon slapstick in live-action. Something that would reach overkill in his Pirates of the Caribbean films. But in MouseHunt, the short running time means that this is a more tightly plotted endeavour, and all the more enjoyable for it.
The film uses a combination of animatronics and CGI to create the mouse. And they really are very inventive. They undoubtedly used real mice for some stunts. Like the cute scene of the mouse running on top of a wheel of cheese like a giant hamster wheel. But the more difficult ones, such as swinging from a light-bulb cord, jumping onto a spoon, or hanging on for dear life to avoid being sucked up by a vacuum are all accomplished by some very impressive special effects. They recall the brilliance of the exceptional Roald Dahl film adaptation The Witches.
The mouse is the real star of the film, and you can tell Verbinski considers him the hero of the piece. Placing him up against insurmountable odds like an insane cat, fire-hoses and propane explosions, the mouse emerges triumphant every time. There is some wonderful slapstick in these scenes, and they're all perfectly orchestrated. I love the part when cat and mouse are inside a piano, running on the keys, and it sounds like an ominous film score.
Providing the human element, the two brothers Ernie and Lars Smuntz (Nathan Lane & Lee Evans) are both on top comic form. Evans gets to sport his usual stand-up shtick, and Lane is on fine form as the scheming older brother. He gets the lions share of all the best lines: "He's Hitler with a tail. He's The Omen with whiskers. Even Nostradamus didn't see him coming!"
The two of them take quite a beating over the course of the film. Like when they mousetrap themselves into a corner. Or a marvellously executed sequence that has them sliding down a flight of stairs in a bath, over a hill and onto a frozen lake. Then they go in the lake. It's an energetic piece of inspired lunacy that has you laughing so hard your sides feel like they're going to split open.
A lot of people who've reviewed MouseHunt have compared it to Home Alone. And not without reason. The violent slapstick is just about on a par, but believe me, the mouse is much more endearing than Macauley Culkin ever will be.
There's also a fine supporting cast. Vicki Lewis is perfectly horrid as Lars' scheming wife. But look out for Christopher Walken's star turn as the slightly mad and very twitchy exterminator Caeser. Like Ahab after Moby Dick, his mouse catching contraptions turn out to be his undoing.
Verbinski ensures that things never run out of steam, because wisely, he doesn't allow the mouse-catching to be the sum of the film's parts. MouseHunt avoids a pitfall most other films would have fallen into. He includes interconnecting subplots that form a more substantial backbone. Such as Lars' wife, April agreeing to help them with their financial problems so she can turn a larger profit when the house is sold. As well as the future of the string factory they too inherited from their father, who a couple of heavies are interested in buying. They're weaved into the plot and called upon when required.
All the different plot strands converge in the inspired last 15 minutes. The night of the auction. In one long, continuous running joke, the slapstick builds until it reaches critical mass. Its something that wouldn't have looked out of place in an episode of Frasier.
The final scenes are actually quite touching, and I liked the way the mouse proves to be Ernie and Lars' salvation in the end. MouseHunt is a real treat. Delivering laughs, heart and fun in equal measure. And the musical score by Alan Silvestri is one of his best in years.
Not to be missed!
The plot may be wafer-thin, and it is really a one joke film, but I love MouseHunt! It really is that funny. Director Gore Verbinski knows all about cartoon slapstick in live-action. Something that would reach overkill in his Pirates of the Caribbean films. But in MouseHunt, the short running time means that this is a more tightly plotted endeavour, and all the more enjoyable for it.
The film uses a combination of animatronics and CGI to create the mouse. And they really are very inventive. They undoubtedly used real mice for some stunts. Like the cute scene of the mouse running on top of a wheel of cheese like a giant hamster wheel. But the more difficult ones, such as swinging from a light-bulb cord, jumping onto a spoon, or hanging on for dear life to avoid being sucked up by a vacuum are all accomplished by some very impressive special effects. They recall the brilliance of the exceptional Roald Dahl film adaptation The Witches.
The mouse is the real star of the film, and you can tell Verbinski considers him the hero of the piece. Placing him up against insurmountable odds like an insane cat, fire-hoses and propane explosions, the mouse emerges triumphant every time. There is some wonderful slapstick in these scenes, and they're all perfectly orchestrated. I love the part when cat and mouse are inside a piano, running on the keys, and it sounds like an ominous film score.
Providing the human element, the two brothers Ernie and Lars Smuntz (Nathan Lane & Lee Evans) are both on top comic form. Evans gets to sport his usual stand-up shtick, and Lane is on fine form as the scheming older brother. He gets the lions share of all the best lines: "He's Hitler with a tail. He's The Omen with whiskers. Even Nostradamus didn't see him coming!"
The two of them take quite a beating over the course of the film. Like when they mousetrap themselves into a corner. Or a marvellously executed sequence that has them sliding down a flight of stairs in a bath, over a hill and onto a frozen lake. Then they go in the lake. It's an energetic piece of inspired lunacy that has you laughing so hard your sides feel like they're going to split open.
A lot of people who've reviewed MouseHunt have compared it to Home Alone. And not without reason. The violent slapstick is just about on a par, but believe me, the mouse is much more endearing than Macauley Culkin ever will be.
There's also a fine supporting cast. Vicki Lewis is perfectly horrid as Lars' scheming wife. But look out for Christopher Walken's star turn as the slightly mad and very twitchy exterminator Caeser. Like Ahab after Moby Dick, his mouse catching contraptions turn out to be his undoing.
Verbinski ensures that things never run out of steam, because wisely, he doesn't allow the mouse-catching to be the sum of the film's parts. MouseHunt avoids a pitfall most other films would have fallen into. He includes interconnecting subplots that form a more substantial backbone. Such as Lars' wife, April agreeing to help them with their financial problems so she can turn a larger profit when the house is sold. As well as the future of the string factory they too inherited from their father, who a couple of heavies are interested in buying. They're weaved into the plot and called upon when required.
All the different plot strands converge in the inspired last 15 minutes. The night of the auction. In one long, continuous running joke, the slapstick builds until it reaches critical mass. Its something that wouldn't have looked out of place in an episode of Frasier.
The final scenes are actually quite touching, and I liked the way the mouse proves to be Ernie and Lars' salvation in the end. MouseHunt is a real treat. Delivering laughs, heart and fun in equal measure. And the musical score by Alan Silvestri is one of his best in years.
Not to be missed!