From the far reaches of the Milky Way Galaxy, It's Retro Nerd Girl with a film review for you.
Today I'll be reviewing the movie The Adventures of Pluto Nash released in 2002.
Starring:
Eddie Murphy, Rosario Dawson, Randy Quaid, Jay Mohr, Joe Pantoliano, Luis Guzmán, James Rebhorn, Peter Boyle, Pam Grier, Alec Baldwin and John Cleese.
Directed by:
Ron Underwood
Genre:
Comedy, Action, Sci-Fi
Rating:
PG-13
Budget:
$100,000,000 (estimated)
IMDb Rating:
3.8 (to date)
My Rating:
7
The Synopsis is:
Pluto Nash, a smuggler turned successful club owner on the moon gets into trouble with the mafia and an adventure ensues with his sidekicks, Dina the aspiring lounge singer and Bruno, his trusty double shooting robot companion.
Enjoyment:
This is the movie that inspired me to review movies. It started because, I guess I like a lot of weird sci-fi movies and I kept seeing this movie in my computer screen feed for movies I should watch. I went searching for reviews on the movie only to find out that everyone hated this movie. I mean hate! When I heard the description of the movie and what happens in it, I thought, hey, maybe I’ll like this movie. And when I watched it, I did. I am one of the very few people that like this movie. It’s not a great movie and I have seen a lot worse, but it’s got a lot of potential to be great but ends up being OK, not horrible. I enjoyed it.
*WARNING: FROM THIS POINT FORWARD THERE MAY BE SPOILERS!*
Pacing:
At one hour and 35 minutes it’s not too long, and it doesn’t linger too long during the non-action scenes. It could use some truncation that would make the story more concise.
Story:
The original script was written in 1985. A dozen other writers wrote treatments of it, but Neil Cuthbert was the only writer credited for the film. I think it’s a miracle that the story was not totally infuriating. It just turns out being OK, not great, again, not the worst. It does have some imagination behind it, however, much of it borrows from other films. Total Recall being the biggest one.
Star Wars, “It’s a trap”, Pluto was a smuggler, like Han Solo
Challenge:
The Bad guys! The plan. Before the movie starts the Michael Marucchi decides that he wants to have casinos on the moon. He makes a clone of Pluto Nash while he’s in jail because he needs someone who knows the in’s and out's of the moon. This signifies that Michael Marrucchi is in cahoots with the police. He names Pluto’s clone Rex Crater. Rex Crater kills Marrucci and takes over his master plan. No explanation why.
Rex Crater decides to offer to buy out Pluto’s club. Pluto refuses so then Rex blows up Pluto’s club so he can have it. Makes no sense. Then Rex Crater, then kills two of his own men right before the main fight. Another dumb movie villain. Then he reveals his plan to change Pluto’s club into an exclusive casino. He could have just assumed Pluto’s identity and signed the club over to Rex Crater, problem solved. Also, how do you tell every dirty crook and henchman to kill someone who looks exactly like you? Dumb.
Empathy:
Pluto is an ex smuggler who swindles his friend out of his club. 7 years later he owns the hottest club on the Moon and refuses to sell his club to mob boss Rex Crater who wants to turn it into a casino. He’s a bit mean to Dina when they meet. She is the daughter of his old friend in the smuggling business, looking for work as a lounge singer on the Moon. The excitement begins when Rex Crater’s goons blows up Pluto’s club. Dina tags along as he and his robot Bruno get into some sticky situations.
Everyone loves Pluto, but why should we? He really isn’t likable. He steals cars when he can simply rent them. He isn’t hate-able either. I like the way he loves the moon so much, wish that had been explored further, maybe a flashback scene or two.
When he talks about the moon, I feel something for his character. Pluto also seems to have it all, friends that bail him out, a robot bodyguard, and an answer for everything. He can do no wrong and that is why he’s not vulnerable enough for me to care that he makes it. I know he will. Pluto goes on a wild goose chase to see who Rex Crater really is, but Pluto doesn’t need to. Rex Crater is Rex Crater, he only needs to go to Rex’s Casino to find him. Just saying...
Technical:
This film had spent 17 years in development.This movie was shelved for almost two years before it was released. The budget was estimated at $100 million with marketing costs of $20 million and got a return of $7 thousand dollars total gross profit. In 2014, the LA Times listed the film as one of the most expensive box office flops of all time. The film stands to perform much better on rentals with the film growing in the critical arena, not for being a bad movie, but being a hated movie. I think that is all interesting stuff but I’m mostly interested in the film composition.
I think the special effects, miniatures, and such were good for 2000, when the movie was actually released it was already outdated. There were a lot of strange unconnected details. The music was one of them. It had this great heroic almost Futurama kind of them going on that was really exciting, then there were a few hip hop rnb versions of popular songs. Those were OK, then both Rosario Dawson and Jay Mohr sang songs on the soundtrack and they weren't terrible. But also, there were a total of 22 songs on the soundtrack and only 6 of them stood out.
A lot of people thought the modern dancing was stupid, and they should have because I think that this is what your parents think of our current dance trends. I thought it was an accurate commentary about our fads.
The film was made by Castle Rock “a AOL time Warner company” and that is why there is an America Online reference in the film that should have been cut. I think that my biggest disappointment with the movie. With only a few thousand dollars, they could have had an amazing body of costumes that would sell the world of this movie. Most of them, except for the space suits were pretty average. But the space suits were definitely amazing.
I really enjoyed many of the establishing shots in this movie. It took about 10 months building and shooting about 20,000 square feet of miniatures in a studio in Canada. Many of those shots looked great, but many others were combined with CGI. You can see where much of the money was spent on this film in the set design and attention to detail on the sets.
Performances:
Eddie’s performance isn’t bad, he’s actually playing the part straight and not zany as expected and I think that let a lot of people down. He wasn't hamming it up full of the "Eddie Murphy movie formula" full of jokes and sassy remarks. And I liked that about the movie. I am not a huge fan of those antics anyway, so to me this works.
Eddie Murphy refused to promote the film at its time of release, and stated that the money is the only reason he took the role. Alec Baldwin disliked the film so much that he insisted on being un-credited. This is such a shame because if two actors are ready to burn this movie, I feel it may have been some big problems behind the scenes that took over the quality of the film. You can tell because there are several versions of the poster, that looks like some actors were going to have a bigger part in the film.
Jennifer Lopez and Halle Berry were the first and second choices respectively for the role of Dina Lake.
The love interest story plot really did not work in this movie even though Rosario Dawson is clearly doing her best. Unfortunately there was no attraction between Dina and Pluto and I felt it was a little creepy that he would have something romantic going on with his friend’s daughter. There could have been a little line saying her father, Nicky Stix was like a father to Pluto. Then it would have made more sense.
I just love when Luiz Guzman shows up in the film. He’s so much fun, but I’m not sure if he belongs in the film. He should have had a bigger part.
Jay Mohr, was pretty good in this film. His singing was good and I really liked his character Tony Francis. He’s a little spaced out, sexist and selfish. The scene with he and Pluto in an elevator is one of the biggest laughs I had during this film.
I got such a kick out of seeing Randy Quaid as Bruno the robot. He’s played zany characters before but I think what strikes a tickle in me is how committed he is to his character. It’s completely out there and I think it really would have worked well in a movie that was a comedy like Space Balls, he’d fit right in. He’s doing some great character acting in this and of all of the characters I empathized with him even more than the main character.
Best:
There were some details that hurt the film, but there were some details that made the film fun like, the retro space suits, little America, Hillary bucks, Trump reality. I enjoyed the Blue Moon and Dancing in the Moonlight hip hop RnB remakes. The establishing shots were really imaginative, though it copies from a lot of great movies before it. It’s still pretty awesome to me. The hero theme was pretty good, I personally enjoyed the action scenes in this movie save for the boss fight at the end.
Dina’s moonwalk looked like it might of been more fun if it were extended and if Pluto joined her.
Zero gravity shoot scene out was awesome. Straight out of Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon or one of the 1940’s. Bruno’s double shooting moments. Evil Eddie Murphy, he plays evil big and lively.
Wish List:
The story is dialogue heavy, which is where the film has it’s biggest problem. It should not have been a comedy. In films like Star Wars and Guardians of the Galaxy, the comedy comes from within the world and situation of the film. It would be better to stick to the plot and write around that. Pop culture reference jokes didn’t hold up over time and sexual jokes weren’t witty enough to keep from coming off creepy or disturbing, when it clearly doesn’t have to go there. It secludes a big audience for the film.
I felt as if this film could have found an audience if chose to either aim for kids and be more of a Buzz Light Year adventure or go all out and be an R rated film like Total Recall which this movie is heavily influenced by.
It would have been nice to have an alternative universe, where the 1940’s had such a strong impact on the future since it’s slightly represented in the film. Dina wears 1940’s hair do and Tony Francis sings old songs. I would have love to have seen more of that kind of retro future world play out.
The film might have gotten a pass if it didn’t contain so many big name Hollywood stars. Viewers went in with high expectations and they got a mediocre film.
I also thought that there were too many featured characters that didn’t last long in the film. If it had less characters for audiences to focus on then we could appreciate the ones we have and tightened up the story. For instance, the part of the henchman, was basically played through three characters.
Last of all I wish the film didn’t cost as much as it did because, that is mainly why people hate this film.
The ending:
The ending wasn’t a shocker, but I appreciate the effort of creating plot twists for the audience. I felt that there was a reference to the big reveal by Rowland that the bad guy was a clone. The question is, how did he know that, and who ever knew Rex Crater was a clone, must have known who he was a clone of. I felt as if they were working on a good story, with possibly a clone of M.Z.M. Mike Maruchi as Rex Crater, but they probably couldn’t get Alec Baldwin back. Alec's role is so small, but it was easily one of the funniest parts of the movie.
To be honest, anyone one of the characters that Pluto meets along the way could have been the bad guy. What if Rowland was the bad guy? But my favorite idea is, what if Dina was the bad guy, since she shows up out of nowhere, getting revenge for her father? That would have been a fun idea to have a female antagonist leading him down the wrong path all along. It actually makes more sense.
Summary:
I do really like this movie and I think Filmmakers can figure out how to make good movies by watching where this one has a great idea that goes flat. It’s got so much potential in my opinion. I am a freakish science fiction lover, so the world of Pluto Nash on the moon really appealed to me. I just love this kind of genre almost like a Futurama, Total Recall, Flash Gordon, live action series. Moon boots and shoot outs! I want to see more of this kind of stuff!
I can see where the producers and filmmakers were so determined to make this film because it’s a good idea. I wish someone would do this kind of thing on YouTube or TV where it has a chance to find it’s niche audience with episodic patience.
My Rating:
7
That sums up my review. I hope you liked it.
This is Retro Nerd Girl signing off!
Take care movie lovers! I'm off to the next review!
That sums up my review. I hope you liked it.
This is Retro Nerd Girl signing off!
Take care movie lovers! I'm off to the next review!
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