From: yurick@vaxb.llnl.gov
Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies
Subject: Re: REVIEW: COOL WORLD
Date: 22 Jul 92 04:30:11 GMT
Followup-To: rec.arts.movies
Organization: LLNL_LIS

In article <1992Jul21.130031.2533@cbnewsj.cb.att.com>,Brian L. Johnson writes:
>                                 COOL WORLD
>                        A film review by Ken Johnson
> 
> A cartoon scientist brings Pitt to Cool World...

   Kind of a crude intro to Cool World.

> Several years later...

   They really didn't explain why it had to be SEVERAL YEARS LATER, but instead
they jumped you right into the future.  From the 1940's to the 1990's.  Quite a
jump!

> Doodle Holli Would (Kim Basinger) wants to get to the Real World
> She brings cartoonist Gabriel Byrne to Cool World to get him
> to make love to her...

   Why did it have to be him, and not any ol' humaNOID?  Maybe a richer, better
dressed guy.  And how was she able to bring him into Cool World, in the first 
place?

> I give COOL WORLD a five on a scale of zero to five...  

  More like five on a scale of zero to fifty.

> No, this is not a nice little animated film to bring your small children...

  Very true!

> Cool World is interestingly designed with its twisting
> buildings that go up above the clouds and twisting roads that go all
> over the place...  

   Yes, the setting was interesting.

> Maybe one cartoon is chasing another with an
> axe or a safe falls on a doodle, etc.  This is an obvious jab at modern
> cartoons that are aired on the television...

    And if you didn't notice that jab at first, you'll have about 10,000 other
chances to see it throughout the movie.  It was ok at first, but got real old,
real quick.


> I also enjoyed how the live characters interacted with the cartoons...

   This is where I thought the movie really was a flop.  The interaction
between humans and cartoons was sloppy.  When the cop (whatever his name was)
put his arm around his cartoon girlfriend, it looked obviously unreal.  Also,
there were times when humans would talk to cartoons, and would be staring off
into space, rather than looking at the cartoon.
 
> The actors do a great job with their roles.  

    Are you sure you saw Cool World??????  The acting was terrible.  Kind of
like - "high school play" acting.

> Kim Basinger does a
> great job as Holli Would, a sultry but egocentric person (Jessica Rabbit
> comes to mind).  She just has a way of making the character come to
> life.  

     I doubt she'll win any awards with this one.  She was sultry at first (in
cartoon form), then she became annoying, crude, rude and sluty.  Jessica Rabbit
was sexy!

> Brad Pitt is good as the cop who really wants to be a Doodle.

   He's the one I thought acted the WORST!  He did not seem like the tough-guy
at all!  But he constantly tried to be one.  He seemed more like a punk, that
no one would really respect.  His acting was barely tolerable.

> Gabriel Byrne also puts in a good performance as the cartoonist who
> becomes obsessed with making love to his creation, Holli Would.

  Well, he didn't act that great either.  And I never got the idea that HE was
obsessed with making love to his creation.  Instead I got the impression that
this was a way to pass the time, while he was in prison.  He liked what he 
drew, and maybe fantasized about her, (what else does a prisoner do to 
pass the time?), but obsessed...NO!

  And the intro to this guy was weak.  There are a bunch of unanswered
questions with this character (as well as with the rest of the movie).

  
  This movie was clumsy.  It seemed like the plot was written within an hour,
over a couple of beers.  There are too many voids, that the audience is
expected to fill on their own.  The acting was pitiful.  The effects needed to
be better.  (If they couldn't pull off the human/toon interaction properly,
then they shouldn't have even attempted it).  The scenes jumped around too
quickly.  You lost track of what-was-what.
   
  The animation was good, but violent and repetitive, however.

  See the movie during the cheaper show times, or wait until it comes out on
video.  Don't see it at full price!!!!!!!!! 

Joe
-- 
*****************************************************************************
*  Joe Yurick         California U.S.A.       E-Mail : yurick@vaxr.llnl.gov *
*** My thoughts & views are rarely my own, much less that of my employer! ***
*****************************************************************************
               I think, therefore I am...an Amiga owner!