Die Abenteuer von Rocky und Bullwinkle

I really liked it as a kid, but I saw it again after 5 years or so, and it doesn't wow me as much. It isn't a terrible film, but it isn't a great one either. I will confess I haven't seen the show, so I can't judge whether Rocky and Bullwinkle were out of character, though I did read somewhere, that the voice of Bullwinkle was not the same as the one in the show. Well, the show is 35 years old or so. The biggest flaw, and I really hate to say this, is Robert DeNiro, yet another talented actor wasted in a thankless role. Here, he acquires a German accent and all, and it really doesn't suit him at all. There was a attempt to liven it up, but here DeNiro seemed ashamed of himself, and it showed in his delivery, though I did like the "Are You Talking To Me?" bit. Also the plot, it was a nice idea, but the pace was uneven, sometimes it dragged, and other times when it felt rushed. It is pretty much the same with the script, which could have been so much better, had it been more focused, as far too many times it went off target, particularly with the syrupy "romance" between Karen and the prison security guy. I felt also there could have been a little more of Rocky and Bullwinkle, and less of Boris and Natasha, though I liked the enthusiasm that Jason Alexander and Rene Russo put into the roles. There are comments saying that these two were chosen because they looked the part and that's it. I personally don't think that's true, because some of the funniest bits were with these two, especially the part when the computer falls on Boris's head. Piper Perabo was good also as Karen Sympathy(most of the jokes are in the characters' names), though she has been better. I really liked the girl in the eye, that is contradictory of her adult counterpart, which causes Rocky to say "There's something in your eye". There are some very good visual jokes, though lots of them are retreads of other films, and have been done better. I really liked Rocky and Bullwinkle- Bullinkle was funnier, when he says "...forgot the line," and I liked the aeroplane scene. The joy were the cameos by the likes of John Goodman and Whoopi Goldberg. In conclusion, a good film, but could have been much better, with better casting and more inspiration. 6/10 Bethany Cox

I will give this feature length take on the popular old animated television series this: The makers of the movie do deserve an "A" for effort. You can really sense the director pumping in the energy and the screenwriter rapidly writing one joke after another. Sometimes all this energy does work for the movie's benefit, being that there are some amusing gags and the cast gives it their all. But all the same, the movie doesn't work in the end. The reason why the movie fails is its inadequate script. While I said there were some jokes that worked, there are also a lot of jokes that feel really lazy and unfunny. But bigger problems can be found with the characters and the narrative. ALL the characters in the movie are really thin, and seem to assume that you'll already be familiar with them. People who have not watched the show may be kind of lost. Just as big of a problem is with the story. The story is quite thin, frequently content to just move from one vignette to another with little to no advancement in the story. This is clearly padding, though at the same time there are some really big leaps in the narrative that suggest that some key plot turns got cut out before being released. Maybe kids who are familiar with the old TV show may get more out of it than I did, though I sense even they will get a feeling that the movie doesn't get anywhere near its full potential.

Having enjoyed the original cartoon series, I went into this film with a good attitude. I enjoyed "Airplane!" and am hardly one of those film school arty types who can't take a joke. If Rocky & Bullwinkle had been campy, dumb, but fun, I think I would have enjoyed it.

Unfortunately, the only good thing I can say is that I was hoping to hear a lot of bad puns, and I did. But there the similarity ended.

Taking Rocky & Bullwinkle out of its cartoon format into a 3D realm didn't work for me. The plot stuttered and didn't make any sense. Even starting from the attitude that this is a cartoon, so things will be wacky and nonsensical, it still didn't make any sense.

Worst of all were the syrupy and melodramatic interactions with Karen Sympathy, the FBI agent. The emotions and decisions of the characters didn't make sense.

Finally, there's something about comedy that involves timing. I don't know what it is. But the build-ups and physical pranks didn't work for me. Something was really askew in the presentation.

Who should see this film:

-- nobody, even kids, and especially if you've seen the original series, it will just make you sad

I'm forced to give The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle a 3 out of 10.

I saw this one with a couple of my friends. They walked out of the theater totally hating the movie and me for suggesting it. I couldn't have hated it as much as they did, but it was really disappointing. The characters were left as shells of their former selves. The movie seemed to suck out the heart and soul that was put into the TV show to make the movie nothing but a series of pathetically bad jokes. Granted, it was really funny to see a live action Boris, Natasha, and Fearless Leader. Jason Alexander, Rene Russo, and Robert DeNiro were the only reason I didn't pull my hair out in sadness and disappointment at seeing some of my favorite TV characters in a piece-of-junk movie.

First and foremost I see that a number of comments on this film have suggested that it was too 'grown-up' for the younger viewers - on this point I couldn't disagree more. I felt the main reason for my lack of enjoyment of this film was that the many gags in it were unintelligent and obviously aimed at children, unlike films such as Toy Story and A Bug's Life which - while being aimed primarily at children - include moments of irony and satire that make the adults laugh too. I believe my nephews and niece would have enjoyed this film much more than I did.

The basic plot was thin and basic (as expected in a film like this) but the jokes did nothing to let you forget this. At the very least the storyline should have been created around well thought-out moments of humour. It wasn't. Robert De Niro was the best part of it but not even he - or the many cameos - could save what was primarily a bad film. The moose was almost as annoying as that God-awful Jar-Jar Binks from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and irritated me throughout. The whole production smelt of a poor man's Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

I've never seen the original cartoon of Rocky & Bullwinkle and after watching the film have no intention too. Expect to see this screened at around lunchtime on Bank Holidays for years to come.