Meet Dave is the story of a crew of miniature people inhabiting a big robot who has come to Earth on a mission to save his people. Eddie Murphy plays the Captain of the vessel and the outward version of the vessel which as automaton has limited capacity for emotion. However after he is damaged in a collision with a vehicle he decides to attempt to learn more about these earth people, spending time with Gina who ran him over and her son Josh, who worries that he isn't a hero like his late father. As you can tell from what's been written so far, this is no kitchen sink drama but a light-hearted Disney-esquire comedy.
Meet Dave is a fun family film that doesn't challenge us too much and has it's heart in the right place. There is plenty of toilet humour which kids always love and some genuinely funny moments throughout, I laughed, the audience laughed. We did not pelt the screen in outrage and nor did we sit there in silence for 2 hours as we did with the film I mentioned to start with. The film is like a cross between "Galaxy Quest" and "Doctor Dolittle" and while the humour is more akin to the latter "Dolittle" this is still a fun family film. So why three or less?
I think that for many film reviewers that sit through and be nice to the usual tripe that passes for entertainment over this season there has to be a villain, a film that they slate that then bombs as a result, and sadly this is that film. I also suspect that there is also an element of "compromise movie on a date" disappointment and maybe even a few "The film I wanted to see was full and I have to sit through this" resentments going on. Having seen some truly terrible mediocre films that critics rave about like "Charlie's Angels" and "Forty days and forty nights" these films that no critic has the b*lls to slag off for fear they won't be invited to more screenings, well boo hoo! I have no cross to bear in that department and this is a film that is funny when it wants to be, it means well, and, whilst it is a tad predictable, the same age group of kids that liked "Dr Dolittle" will certainly like this, especially appropriate for younger children who may find "WALL-E" hard going, bearing in mind it is great for adults and older children, but not necessarily very young kids. P
Critics are just jumping on the bandwagon to attack this film, it really isn't as bad as the examples I've mentioned. The only drawback in this film is that the effects aren't particularly great at a number of points but better to have a film that's okay with poor effects than poor with okay effects.
If your family enjoyed Firehouse Dog, and the silly humour of that, chances are they'll like this.
Family Fun
