Rated PG-13, Universal Pictures
Directed by Joe Dante
Written by Ted Elliott, Zak Penn, Adam Rifkin, Terry Rossio, and Gavin Scott
Every big movie season there always seems to be one film that is misrepresented or under-promoted by its studio in advertisements. During the summer of '96, it was The Cable Guy, during that holiday season, it was Mars Attacks!, last summer it was Contact, and last November it was, in a way, Starship Troopers. This summer, it looked like it was going to be The Truman Show at first. But Paramount did a pretty decent job of showing that the film was thoughtful and serious. Instead, this year, it looks to be Small Soldiers. The movie has been promoted as a children's film, even with toys being given away at your local Burger King. But the movie will probably appeal to, and be more appropriate for adults, as the PG-13 rating implies (seeing how many little tykes were at the showing I attended of Dr. Dolittle, ratings don't seem to matter to parents anymore). It has been wrongfully compared to Toy Story, the best Disney film of the past 4 years (even though Pixar had more to do with it than Disney). Joe Dante, the director of Small Soldiers, is best remembered for directing Gremlins, the almost-forgotten '80s hit, and the two films are much more easily comparable. However, if Toy Story was about the childhood joy of playing with toys, then Small Soldiers is about the childhood joy of mutilating them beyond recognition.
It all starts when two toymakers (Jay Mohr and David Cross) think of a new line of toys that actually walk and talk to kids. In a hurry to fill a deadline for their billionaire boss (Denis Leary), Larry (Mohr), the more ambitious of the two, inserts a chip to power the toys, not realizing that the chip was developed for the military. Soon, the Commando Elite toys, led by Major Chip Hazard (voiced by Tommy Lee Jones), are wreaking havoc across a small town in their war against the good toys led by Archer (voiced by Frank Langella). The computer effects here are state-of-the-art, and they have something over Toy Story in that a lot of the story is live action and the toys look like real walking, talking toys instead of obvious computer animated figures. The voice work is impressive as well, with such big names as Ernest Borgnine and the original "Dirty Dozen," and the members of Spinal Tap on hand, as well as cameo voices from young stars Sarah Michelle Gellar and Christina Ricci. Gellar and Ricci voice some "Barbie"-like dolls which also come to life, in one of the movie's creepiest scenes, which is one reason the film is not for young children. Also, the level of violence and language is far above normal kiddie fare. When the movie is clever, it's very clever, with sly references to Patton, The Bride of Frankenstein, and Titanic. However, when it's contrived, it's really contrived, such as a mostly uninteresting subplot about Archer's young ally Alan (Gregory Smith) and his love interest Christy (Kirsten Dunst). The first hour or so of the movie is solid, yet it loses a little steam towards the end. Still, it's original enough for me to recommend it, especially for adults who remember what it was like to be a kid. ***
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