Chupa

Good old fashion family movie with heart without the loud smart-alecky characters and annoying poppy music that plague today's movies.

Characters are properly developed, with normal human qualities.. Also nice to see Christian Slater again, if only he didn't have to play the bad guy.

Plot is straight forward without the ridiculous loophole prone complexities that many third rate writers and directors succumb to today.

Only shortcoming is the main child character is actually the weakest actor of all - his acting is unconvincing and self conscious unlike the natural flow of the others.

Animation and cinematography is fine enough.

I sat down with my family to watch the 2023 movie "Chupa" on Netflix, after having stumbled upon it by perusing the new movies on Netflix. And I have to say that I was immediately drawn to the movie, given its cover and its synopsis.

Writers Joe Barnathan, Brendan Bellomo, Sean Kennedy Moore and Marcus Rinehart put together a very wholesome and enjoyable movie for the entire family. I was genuinely entertained by the storyline in the movie from start to end, and it actually offers something for everyone in the family, from kid to adult. And thus, that makes "Chupa" a very enjoyable and watchable movie.

The movie is starring some unfamiliar young talents; Evan Whitten, Ashley Ciarra and Nickolas Verdugo, whom carried the movie quite well. But the movie also have some familiar talents on the cast list, with the likes of Demián Bichir and Christian Slater.

Visually then "Chupa" was really nice. The chupacabra design were rather good, and it wasn't scary, which means that even the younger audience can enjoy the movie. It was quite cute, and it actually worked well in favor of the overall enjoyment of the movie.

If you enjoy family movies, then you definitely have to check out director Jonás Cuarón's 2023 movie "Chupa".

My rating of "Chupa" lands on a six out of ten stars.

Chupa is a heartwarming tale of friendship and adventure that takes inspiration from the classic film E. T. It's refreshing to see Christian Slater back on the big screen. The movie follows the story of Alejandro, also known as Alex, played brilliantly by Evan Whitten, who is struggling to cope with the loss of his father to cancer. Living in Kansas City and attending Lakewood Middle School, Alex keeps to himself and is teased by his classmates for being different. But when his mother takes him on a trip to San Javier, Mexico, Alex discovers a new world of experiences and people, which helps him to overcome his grief and start afresh. In the film, Alex befriends a Chupa, a mythical creature known as the Chupacabra who has been separated from its family due to human intervention. The film is not only a moving story of Alex's journey to acceptance, but it also sheds light on how humans often assume things about unknown creatures and how that can lead to negativity and hatred. As per folklore, Chupacabras are believed to attack livestock and drink their blood, but in the film, Alex learns that they are misunderstood creatures. Chupa showcases the beauty of San Javier and the unique Mexican wrestling style of Lucha libre. It also highlights the importance of staying connected with our families and roots, wherever they may be, to maintain our cultural identity and pride. The film is accompanied by touching songs that blend perfectly with the story and serve as a reminder of the importance of cultural diversity and traditions. Every aspect of the film is thoughtfully crafted, making it an enjoyable watch for all ages.

As a child from the 70s and 80s, this movie brought me back there. This movie reminded me of what kids movies should be. No agenda. No politics. Just fun. This movie reminded me of what watching movies as a kid was like and should be like. I watched this movie with my 11 year old daughter and she has never watched a movie with me since she was born. However, to night, we watched this together. Just us and we laughed together. Not only did this movie remind me of the lost innocence of a culture, it reminded me of the importance of just enjoying something with your kid. Is this movie great? No. Is it worth it? Absolutely. It's written like it came from a kid from the 80's and I appreciate it very much. Thank you and I mean that.

This has like a mix of E. T. and Water Horse but mostly on the premise not much on the heart. It was a bit too short so everything went by quickly so you didn't get to really bond with the whole child meets monster and become friends things. I was like "That was it?"

The Chupa is cute even with the feral cat hyena like design. They met roughly in the middle of the film so really there's not enough time to do much else. I think there was a bit too much of the bad guy sequences, which didn't really need to be that long since they didn't add to anything. They're just typical greedy villains so each screen time they got there wasn't anything new to add other than "We need to find Chupacabra". Hollow villains basically.

The movie's message is meant to be conveying: (As said by Cuarón, the "core message of" Chupa is "the importance of family, particularly in a character who was looking for his roots."). They did insert the characters being together but to me it felt lacking since they didn't dive deeper on what this child supposedly is looking to connect to his roots so he's not really opening up. Then when the main family moment happened it was fast then the next scene it was back to the bad guy sequence up to climax. So even with the usual child and monster friend goodbye scene it didn't really feel sorrowful because you didn't really see them bond together. They just poof close buds.

I would've rated this 5.5 but opted for 5. Chupa being cute isn't enough for me. They had a good message but they let that plot go. Where was the actual connection to his roots? The kids might like it because again, cute cuddly monster. But yeah the show feels dated with the acting and the awkward sequences.