Synopsis:
A teenage boy and his single mother move into a small town. There, the boy meets a nice girl who's father happens to be R.L. Stine, author of the famous Goosebumps series. As the teens discover Stine's secret, they accidentally open his Goosebumps manuscripts, thus setting all of the imaginary monsters free from the books and bringing forth disaster upon the small town. It is up to Stine and the teens to capture the monsters back in the books and save the town.
Review:
Let me star off by saying that I have never really read any of the Goosebumps books, but they were quite popular when I was a child. However, I have watched some episodes of the Goosebumps TV series, and I found it quite interesting.
Then, I heard that there was a Goosebumps movie in the works and that Jack Black was going to be in it. Part of me was looking forward to it because of Jack Black (He's kinda one of my favorite celebrities), but another part of me was skeptical. Given that each installment in the "Goosebumps" series is a different story entirely, I was not sure how they would pull it off. Also, the trailer was not very convincing.
That being said, I went and saw the film, and I must say that I was very impressed with it, and I enjoyed it very much.
It actually has a very unique and interesting story line. We have these three teenagers, and R.L. Stine, and Stine has these manuscripts of his stories locked. One of the teenagers accidentally opens one of the Goosebumps manuscripts, releasing the monsters.
For all we know, it could have just been an anthology of all of the different Goosebumps stories, but instead, the writers got creative and brought the stories together, followed by a plot involving the Goosbumps monsters unleashed from R.L. Stine's manuscripts and wreaking havoc across the town.
Jack Black plays a fictional version of R.L. Stine (the author of the Goosebumps series). Black actually portrays his character quite well, and is quite funny (as usual). At first, Stine comes off as a jerk, but once you find out his secret, you actually care for him.
It also has some good chemistry between the two protagonists Zach and Hannah, and Dylan Minnette and Odeyah Rush deliver impressive performances that capture it.
The film is also very fun and entertaining. There is not a single moment in the film where I was bored. Slappy the Dummy basically stole the show. Whenever Slappy is on screen, he brings forth a laugh, and a scare at once. I also loved the grocery store scene with the werewolf.
I do not want to spoil anything, but that twist (and yes, there IS a twist) got me. Also, the real R.L. Stine makes an appearance somewhere in the film.
There are a couple of problems that I had with the film. One of them is that, while I cared for Zach and Hannah, it seems to rely a bit too much on the romance aspect. Another problem is that it relies a little too much on CGI to the point where it looked cartoon-ish in some areas. But those things did not ruin the movie for me.
Overall, Goosebumps is a very fun and creative family-friendly spooky thrill ride, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the franchise.
Max Scale:
8/10
