Tag: Rob Letterman

Goosebump’s Hairy Road to Success, A Movie Review

goosebumps_ver3Thankfully, Goosebumps the Movie is not a Jack Black-centric movie. The protagonist looks at the life of Zach Cooper (Dylan Minnette) as he adjusts to the small town life at Madison, Delaware. After the death of his father, Gale (Amy Ryan), his mom, finds that he’s closed himself off to people. Although he befriends Champ (Ryan Lee), a socially awkward teen in the vein of Adam Sandler, and develops an interest in Hannah (Odeya Rush)–his next door neighbour–life still does not feel easy. Mr. Shivers (Black) is a menacing recluse and he treats nearly everyone with contempt.

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Monsters vs Aliens vs the TV

Nickelodeon and Dreamworks’ low-key promotion for Monsters vs Aliens the Animated Series isn’t helping.

monsters-vs-aliens-post-3Dreamworks’ movie Monsters vs Aliens (MvA) was a great tribute to the iconic monster movies from the 50’s. These creatures banded together to fight space invaders. The two direct-to-video sequels, Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space and Night of the Living Carrots played tribute to Attack of the Killer Tomatoes and Night of the Living Dead. They were hilariously well done. Fans could see that the production teams involved in those products clearly loved the genre, and that fondness is evident in how these three tales are produced.

But what happened to that love in the television series? The television premiere on Nickelodeon was barely passable. The team involved in bringing the series to the small screen must not share the same passion that the story creators of this series, Rob Letterman and Conrad Vernon, had. The premise of the television show lack punch.

By episode two and three, all the fun drama and humor from the movie and direct-to-video shorts are gone in favor for more derivative product in the style of Spongebob Squarepants. Even when Susan loses her ability to turn into a giant, the depth she expresses for her lost ability is minuscule. Some viewers may well wonder if any of these any decent character development will occur in the series.

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