Star Kid, Meu Amigo Espacial

Following along the same lines of NEVER ENDING STORY where boy gets bullied at school, has a dysfunctional family and finds the meaning of his existence through some kind of adventure. This time through an Alien robot that happens to land on Earth. Our boy enters the Robot and takes control as they create chaos and save the world from doomsday.

Joseph Mazzello. I like him very much. That is why I wanted to see this film, even though the plot wasn't especially promising. This isn't one of Joseph's best films. It is okay but quite flawed. No less true is that, without our idol Joseph, it would have been a lot worse. He takes the whole movie alone. The movie only works because of him. As usual, Joseph is wonderful on his part.

The only strange and minor side of his acting here is that he spends a great deal of time inside a cybersuit. Nothing wrong with his acting, it's just that spending such a great amount of time inside of a cybersuit is a limitation that prevents him from doing other things he could do, even though he still goes far on this role despite the limitations implied. He's got some hilarious lines and he does some pretty funny faces as well (always so convincing and expressive).

The things Spencer (Joseph's character) does in this movie with Cy (the cybersuit)... I bet this is how little Bobby from 'Radio Flyer' would have liked to make his brutal stepfather "The King" pay for everything he did to him.

It's a fun film to watch, original and imaginative. Yes, it's silly, but worthy for Joseph Mazzello's fans precisely thanks to him.

I remember seeing the preview to "Star Kid" when it came out in theaters and thinking, "Man, does that look dumb." Last night it came on one of the movie channels--at 10pm, strangely--so I figured I'd let it play in the background while I did some work. I ended up watching the whole thing, and guess what--I really enjoyed it. Sure, there are some inevitably silly scenes, but then, at 37, I'm way out of the target demographic.

I don't want to find fault with the movie because "it is what it is." The actors are all decent, the effects are better than I had expected, and best of all, it has heart. I'm building a library of movies for our kids (when we finally have some), and said movies will need to be wholesome family entertainment that I won't mind watching, too. I will definitely include "Star Kid."

Far away from Earth the Trelkins are defending their planet from the invading Broodwarriors. On earth Spencer has his own problems - too shy to talk to girls, ignored by his single parent Dad and bullied at school. When a Trelkin Phase 1 Cyber Assault Suit lands in a nearby junk yard in need of bio-organism to interface with, Spencer concedes and finds himself in control of a 8ft robot. However when a Broodwarrior comes to capture the suit to help their invasion Spencer finds himself in a situation where he must face his fears.

Yes, it's a kid movie where the `geek' comes good. The difference here is that it is actually pretty good fun for kids and adults. The story mainly revolves around the relationship between the suit and Spencer. This is handled well with the usual mis-communications (the suit responds to `this is cool!' by starting to heat the internal area to 1000C) and fish out of water jokes. The chemistry between the two is good and keeps the film fun. The other element where the Broodwarrior comes in, is also great. The fight between the suit, two kids and a huge alien may not be realistic but it's handled very well and is very enjoyable.

Mazello manages to play the kid without being too feeble or too annoying (a rare thing in children!) and is very good throughout. Daniels is good as the suit despite being lumbered by a mechanical voice. The only weaknesses here are the poor suit effects - it looks like it was designed to be liked by children - and the inevitable showdown is a little unlikely. Mind you, most of the fights are really good and the Broodwarrior, although clearly a man in a rubber suit, looks great and is well designed.

Overall it's very entertaining. It's not clever but the humour, spectacle and sense of fun save it from being for kids only.

I liked this film; it's fun to watch. It's not a great film, but how many are? The computer graphics are good, the story is familiar but well handled. What makes it work is Joseph Mazzello. I really haven't seen him give a weak performance in anything, and he definitely carries this film.

That's also what I consider the film's greatest weakness. Joseph has to do most of his acting from the inside of a helmet using only his face and voice. He handles it well, but it's a shame we don't get to see more of what he can do.

It's a good film to watch with the whole family. I gave it a 5.