An Untouchable Classic

Rating: 9/10 (6 July 2015)

As someone who doesn't particularly enjoy cartoons as much as I did when I was younger, it really says a lot when I look at a film like Who Framed Roger Rabbit as an adult and say that I absolutely love it. I was first introduced to WFRR when I was very young. (Probably 5 or 6 years old.) And I don't remember much from it, but what I can recall for sure is that I did enjoy it. But now that I'm grown up, I actually enjoy it even more.
It's a phrase we hear all the time and more often than not, it gives us false hope that the film will be exactly as it promises: "Fun for the whole family!" they tell us. But most of the time, movies that try to sell by using this title are false advertising and end up as unmemorable failures for both young and old audiences. But you can rest easy because this is not the case with WFRR.
For starters, the tone of the story itself is a masterful combination of family friendly humour and dark euphemisms that are so complex they will go right over a child's head. So adults can appreciate them without fear of their kids becoming tainted by suggestive themes. It is perfectly equated in the light as well as the dark side of humanity. And that is something that is not easily achieved by an ordinary film, much less one that is partially geared towards children.
There's a whole multitude of things that I could give this film praise for. To name the best ones: there's the skillful animation, the seamless interaction of the human characters with their toon counterparts, the clever themes of a classic 1940's film noir that blend absolutely beautifully with the cartoonist nature of the story, the top-notch acting from Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd and others; and last but not least, the pain-staking amount of detail made to every single interaction between man and toon. Over all, the techniques used worked to excellence and don't fail to astound even by today's standards. You can almost feel the animator's blood, sweat and tears through every great effort to convince us that these toons are real and are just as human as their living, breathing co-stars.
Because I consider the film to be so nearly perfect, there is very little that I could complain about (and I don't think I could even if I tried!). Sure, there are some scenes that might come off as a tad out-landish or zany but hey...that's the nature of cartoons. And when used in combination of brilliant acting that's so faultless to the point that you constantly forget that the actors on set are interacting with things that never actually existed; it gives you a better appreciation for cartoons and 2D animation in general but also for the extremely talented cast who gave it their all to make these gimmicks a success.
As a whole, the film is staggering in both technical achievement and story. It has a lot of heart to it, great humour and a wonderfully crafted script. If you're looking for a film that both fully grown adults and small children will like, this is the real deal. There's no false advertisement to be found here; you don't get any more genuine than this. Everyone should give Who Framed Roger Rabbit a watch because you won't find more fun anywhere else!