Die Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas

I just saw The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas. Overall, I'd give it a grade of B-. It's nothing great, but decent entertainment for kids and maybe for some adults who were fans of the original cartoon series. Mark Addy is perfect as Fred Flintstone; much better than John Goodman. The appearance of The Great Gazoo was also a plus; he should have been featured more. As expected, Dino was cute and amusing to watch. The other characters were OK. I think this movie is slightly better than the first one.

When both Flintstone movies came out, my daughter wanted to see them, so we did. I was not especially impressed by the films...but I thought they weren't bad. Well, apparently I am not the typical viewer, as both films (especially "Viva Rock Vegas") have very low scores on IMDB...and "Viva Rock Vegas" now made the Bottom 100 list following the recent changes to this list (increasing the minimum number of votes greatly impacted the list....and about 2/3 of the films are new to the list). Because of this change, I decided to try seeing the film again....and perhaps I was mistaken the first time.

The first thing you'll notice is that although the look of the film is great (much like the first film), all the principal actors are different. Apparently, the studio had a hard time getting the old actors to commit to the film...so to try to get around this, the movie is supposed to be a prequel which occurred long before the Spielberg film.

When the story begins, Gazoo is being punished for some unknown mistakes. His punishment is to be banished to Earth to observe human mating rituals. Not surprisingly, he picks Fred and Barney to follow...as the boys have not yet met Betty and Wilma. Once they do, they all fall in love but it doesn't go THAT smoothly. First, Wilma comes from a rich and snooty family...and they have no interest in low-brow Fred. Second, Wilma's old boyfriend invites the four of them to Rock Vegas....and he obviously has some underhanded scheme in mind for them. Third, once in Rock Vegas, Betty mistakenly thinks Barney is chasing another woman and she ends up being one of Mick Jagged's entourage.

So was I wrong the first time? I don't think so. While the film isn't exactly brilliant, it is what it is supposed to be...a live action version of a cartoon...no more, no less. And, despite me not seeing it with my daughter this time, I had a fine time watching the film. Pleasant and adequate...and not at all deserving all the hate it's received. Believe me...there are many, many, many worse kids films, such as "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians", "Baby Geniuses" (1 and 2), "Son of the Mask" and most of the "Land Before Time" films (they made 14 of them!!!). Don't be afraid to buck conventional wisdom, as I think this film is enjoyable and a decent story to watch with your kids.

Like its predecessor, "The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas" tries to be likeable. However, this film is not quite up to par with the original. This version deals with the way the Flintstones came into existence. Young dino-crane operators Fred Flintstone (Mark Addy) and Barney Rubble (Stephen Baldwin) find true love in fast-food waitresses Wilma (Kristen Johnston) and Betty (Jane Krakowski). They take an expense-paid trip to Rock Vegas, but the evil Chip Rockefeller (Thomas Gibson) has a plan to get rid of Fred so he can have Wilma for himself. That is about it for the near invisible plot. Once again the production values are high, but that does not save this film from being a dud. The casting is impressive, but there is nothing for the cast to work with. Basically the first film with a different situation and different actors in the key roles. 2 out of 5 stars.

I was surprised by this movie.

I hated the original, I suppose because none of the cast of the original (except Elizabeth Perkins) resembled the Cartoon cast.

I'll probably get stoned alive for saying this, but I didn't like John Goodman's Fred Flintstone. I think he played him awkwardly as though, he didn't really want to be in the movie.

But Mark Addy was a lot lot better. OK, he didn't have the voice down to a tee, but he resembles Fred, when made up, a whole lot more than Mr. Goodman.

I just wish they would have asked Elizabeth Perkins to re-create her role as Wilma. She did a great job in the original, and resembled and sounded like the cartoon character, where Kristen Johnston, didn't quite do it for me in the role. She looked far too mature to be playing Wilma, and didn't have the voice either.

But full marks to Stephen Baldwin and Jane Krakowski as Barney and Betty. They were also a lot better than Rick Moranis and Rosie O'Donnell from the original film. Mostly because, again, they sounded like the cartoon characters and Krakowski resembled Betty. (Baldwin in no way looked like Barney though - oh, well, can't be perfect, but he makes up for it with the voice and laugh).

Joan Collins is also hilarious in the film, as the Filthy Rich Mother of Wilma, and again, does a better job that Elizabeth Taylor from the original.

Also watch out for Alan Cumming. He almost steals the film with his "Mike Jagged" from the Stones, while also playing an alien in a dual role.

With great creatures (Jim Henson workshop), good gadgets and an all-round enjoyable film, I give this an 8 out of 10.

"The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas" is actually slightly more bearable than the truly horrible 1994 movie, but that really isn't saying much. Where the previous one suffered from chronically bad casting for the Flintstones and the Rubbles (except for Elizabeth Perkins as Wilma), this benefits from Stephen Baldwin and Jane "Best reason to watch 'Ally McBeal' not called Lucy Liu" Krakowski making a far less annoying Barney and Betty than Rick Moranis and Rosie O'Donnell (the latter the only major cast member to return here, in voice mode only). The movie also has a few nice little touches like pictures of the cartoon Fred and Barney handed out to people, and the specially modified Universal logo with the Earth only showing one continent behind the word "Univershell" ("Did anyone else see those giant letters out there?").

Alan Cumming as the Great Gazoo (and a Mick Jagger-type rock star) is also one of the movie's pros... and indicative of its cons. Writers Deborah Kaplan & Harry Elfont ("Can't Hardly Wait," "Josie and the Pussycats") and the late Jim Cash & Jack Epps, Jr ("Top Gun," "Anaconda") go for too many cheap gags, have a wilful disregard for the show's mythology - Gazoo didn't arrive until Fred and Barney were both married with children, for starters (and as another poster rightly says, he crashlanded as opposed to being sent) - and don't really have much of a plot going for them. The movie's all as silly as that episode where the boys befriended "Ann-Margrock" without knowing who she was.

Speaking of which, Ann-Margret (who guested on the TV show) returns to Bedrock to sing "Viva Rock Vegas" in a montage and over the credits, but her take isn't a patch on the BC-52's version of the theme song in the first one, and indeed the overall feeling of going down a level is everywhere - not just in the plot of Wilma's mum wanting her daughter (a miscast Kristen Johnston) to marry an uppercrust type (Thomas Gibson from "Dharma & Greg"), but from the cast to the visual effects (Rhythm & Hues aren't quite up to Industrial Light & Magic's level) to the music (song-wise, that is; David Newman at least tries), the movie fits in all too well alongside the other losers directed by Brian Levant, he of "Problem Child" and "Jingle All The Way" infamy. And I still think James Belushi, not John Goodman or Mark Addy, IS Fred Flintstone.

At least the first one had Halle Berry and some puns in the credits (though this does have Jane Krakowski - hubba hubba). And no Joan Collins...