Thumbtanic

Steve Oedekerk returns with yet another 'Thumb' movie. This one works much better than his THUMB WARS did, because there is a story and he can actually spoof stuff. The whole thing works perfectly because he follows the plot of TITANIC exactly but makes stupid stuff happen along the way. If you liked TITANIC, then this short is for you. Don't see it unless you have seen the actual movie. If you see this movie on the "Double Thumb Feature" then you get to see a preview for Oedekerk's latest 'Thumb' film called THE BLAIR THUMB. There is also a funny segment with a family in a movie theater.

THUMBTANIC: 4/5.

This is a brilliantly stupid movie. I mean this as a complement---really! After all, a really "dumb" film can't really be dumb if it makes you laugh so hard! This is one of several 30 minute thumb parodies created by Steve Oedekerk. The best of these, in my opinion, is Thumb Wars, but Thumbtanic is just about its equal for silliness and fun. Yes, it TRUE that the movie's actors are thumbs with computer-generated faces on them and YES I still think it's good! Try watching it and see--you just can't help laughing and isn't that why we watch comedies anyway--to laugh?! Particularly funny was the guy on deck trying to make a buck selling babies and then later by selling sex changes! Just watch it and see for yourself. BUT, only do so if you are the type person who can laugh at 100% unsophisticated but funny films.

I watched this on a whim because it was available and I'd heard the Thumb movies were funny. This one was not. The majority of the jokes were based around "Geranium's" physique and, in turn, Kate Winslet's. I think it's really pathetic of the the "Thumbtanic" creators to stoop so low to make jabs at a respected actress just because she (heaven forbid) doesn't starve herself into the model of ideal modern beauty.

My favorite part was the line that goes something like, "Hey, I have a great idea! Let's swim over to this makeshift raft that no one else seems to see!" Thirty seconds of amusement out of a 26 minute movie does not redeem its value.

The Thumb idea isn't such a winner the second time round. ThumbTanic wasn't as good as Thumb Wars for a number of reasons. Primarily, I think, Mr Oedekerk had far less to work with in the Titanic send-up. Unlike Star Wars, the movie Titanic hasn't (yet?) become a cultural myth and there are far fewer references to be made which will resonate with the audience.

In ThumbTanic, the holes are filled by one-off jokes which don't really seem related to anything. For example, the hero's insinuation that the heroine isn't clean during the "jump off end of ship" scene - it's not funny. Rather, you just think to yourself, "Did I miss something in the original movie?". There were too many of these type of baseless jokes (cf. arachnid).

By contrast, the send-up of the smarmy ship's designer had meaning and was funny. Also very funny was the send up of the bloke in the movie who wanted to go "faster" as a maniac running around demanding *everything* be "faster" including the sinking of the ship and himself being the first to die. These sort of jokes meant something in the Titanic context and lent meaningful humour to Thumbtanic.

The thumb "media", the faces and the voices, are still amusing. The props and sets and the CG animation are worthy of appreciation. Overall, although ThumbTanic proves that quirkiness alone won't work, this filmette still keeps you amused and chuckling to the end.

It just goes to show you what a little money, a lot of imagination and a lot of friends can do. My compliments to the creators of this little gem. Brought tears of laughter to my eyes; one of the funniest films I've seen in a long time. Definitely worth taking the 30 odd minutes to watch for a laugh.

If I were Ebert and Roper I'd give it two thumbs up!