Honey, I Shrunk the Kids

I rememeber seeing this film in summer 1989 in the movie theater when I was still in elementary school. On the big screen the FX are so cool! They don't translate as well on the small screen, though. It's also funny to see the Matt Frewer character making pot shots at Rick Moranis's character. The shrunken kids' adventure to cross the yard is also cool. The Roger Rabbit short "Tummy Trouble" before the start of the film is an added bonus! Great Disney fun!

"Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" is a quite unusual adventure/comedy film, one of the most eccentric movies of all time. It's one of those live-actions films produced by Disney's studios.

The movie's title refers to Wayne Szalinski, a stereotypical nutty/mad scientist. He invents a machine with the ability of shrinking objects to a size even smaller than ants. This character is portrayed by Rick Moranis, the perfect actor for a role like this (with his intellectual looks).

Rick Moranis is funny as Wayne Szalinski, Matt Frewer is hilarious as the impatient and temperamental "Big" Russell Thompson. The kids also do a good job: Thomas Wilson Brown as the clever "Little" Russell Thompson, Jared Rushton as the paranoid Ron Thompson and Robert Oliveri as the nerd Nick Szalinski. One of the funniest parts for me is when "little" Russell forces his brother Ron to confess that he broke Szalinski's window with his baseball.

The Szalinski kids (Nick and Amy) and the Thompson kids ("Little" Russell and Ron, the Szalinski's neighbors) are accidentally shrunk by the machine and thrown into the garbage by accident. Because they are so tiny, they live a big adventure full of dangers and nightmares (from insects to a remote-controlled lawn mower) until reaching their house, something which would only take seconds on their normal size.

The story becomes a bit odd and of a somehow discussable taste, but it also makes the difference... for good and for bad. However, I must be fair: at least this is a thousand times better than those stupid "Problem Child" movies. Not that they have anything in common, but...

Overall, nothing extraordinary, but amusing, hilarious, great fun, entertaining, original, bizarre and with some funny lines («French class» is just one among many others). There's also a certain 80's charm on it.

The success of this movie inspired a very imaginative 3D film created as an amusement for Disneyland parks around the world called "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience".

Being a somewhat big fan of Rick Moranis, I had high expectations when I first saw this movie. I must say, I was not disappointed. The acting was terrific.

***Spoilers*** Wayne Szalinski (Moranis) is a nutty scientist who invents strange things. One invention, a shrinking machine, just makes things blow up. At first. Then, a next door neighbor, Ron Thomson, (Jared Rushton) hits a baseball in Wayne Szalinski's lab- in the attic.

Soon, four kids are the size of a grain of sand. Only a quarter inch tall, they make their way home. They have many adventures in the backyard, which is a jungle to them. The adventures include encounters with swarming bees, an ant, a lawn mower, and much more.

After a near misadventure with a bowl of cereal, the kids are found. Wayne fixes his machine, and the kids are enlarged back to normal size.

Later, both the Thomson's and Szalinski's are in the kitchen. On the table is a turkey the size of a piano.

This is a well-made movie. It may be a little scary for some younger kids, but it is well worth watching more than once.

My Score: 8/10

My Take: A fine family entertainment with some neat special effects.

I grew up watching and enjoying this funny, fast-paced fantasy adventure. But when I watched it back then, I always seemed to start it on the part with the scorpion and the ant, so I only watch a few parts. But I finally found it on DVD and watched it from the beginning. And I really enjoyed it. It's really a fantastic fantasy, with elaborate special-effects and lavish "enlarged" sets.

The film is quite like the fantasy films filmmaker Steven Spielberg produced, like "Back to the Future" and "Innerspace" for instance. It depicts the adventures of average people, thrust into an adventure of a lifetime, and then must find away to get back safely. That's kinda like the premise of "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids", a group of neighborhood kids get shrunk to size by a weird machine crazy inventor Rick Moranis invented. Disney triumphs in creating an enjoyable fantasy that's sure to be a charm. The stop-motion effects are still impressive, even if special effects in the 80's have certainly moved on. It's one of the best live-action Disney efforts and a fine fun for the entire family.

This film is followed by a sequel "Honey, I Blew up the Kid", which is not quite as zany and imaginative as its predecessor.

Rating: ***1/2 out of 5.

Absent-minded genius Moranis accidentally shrinks his kids to microscopic size and they end up in the yard. At their size, they must fight dangerous creatures like ants and bees and menacing household items like a lawnmower and a garden hose before they can traverse back to the house and hope to be restored to normal size. Amusing Disney comedy is fun for the whole family. The special effects are pretty good as simple household objects are shown as humongous from the perspective of the kids. Moranis is likable as the mad inventor and Strassman is cute as his wife. The young actors don't try to be too cute and Frewer is funny as the neighbor whose son has also been shrunk.