Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989)

Have you ever just wanted to watch a fun, humorous, adventurous film that literally the entire family can enjoy? Well, you've come to the right movie!For a basic plot summary, "Honey, I Shrunk The Kids" begins with eccentric inventor Way Selinsky (Rick Moranis) crafting a machine to shrink objects to minuscule proportions. After an unfortunate baseball-through-the-window accident, the two Selinsky children (and two neighbor pals) are shrunk down and thrown out with the trash. The rest of the film focuses on their quest back home through a grass jungle, swarms of bees, giant ants, and the dreaded lawnmower.There are few movies that can be enjoyed by both old and young simultaneously. Usually, the jokes either use childish situations as a conduit to adult humor, or pander to the kiddies with enough syrupy sap to make adults nearly wretch. Fortunately, this film succeeds in both areas. The characters and drama are children fare, but the crazy adventures and touch of heart are enough to keep seasoned viewers tuned in for the duration.Is this little adventure flick an all-time family classic? Not necessarily...I don't know if anything starring Moranis truly can be. What it is, however, is a fun, quirky, 93-minutes filled with laughs, thrills, and even a bit of emotion thrown in. Avoid the sub-par sequels, but at least give this one a look for its originality and spectacle.

Rick Moranis is an absent minded inventor. He makes things that are harder to handle than the simple devices he tries to replace. He hopes to make the world easier to live in, but the clean up of his messes takes more time and effort than doing things the conventional way. I'm not spending much time on this because it was never intended as a work of art, but the special effects are good, the Cheerios scene is pretty cool, and we all know it will work out in the end. Moranis is the perfect Schmuck who always seems to stay positive no matter how bad things get. Remember his small but significant part in "Ghostbusters." His family always stands by him, no matter what. And his neighbors continue to see him as a nut. Oh well!

I just watched this movie with my 8 year old son on TV."Honey I Shrunk The Kids" is Good old fashioned 80's family fun. As (and I don't think this is too much of a spoiler) inventor Rick Mirranis inadvertently shrinks his kids. The likable cast is headed by Rick Morranis as the inventor Dad, Marcia Strassman as the Real Estate Mom and Amy O'Neill as the popular teenage daughter. Matt Frewer and Kristine Sutherland are the neighbours whose kids are shrunk along with Morranis's kids.The story is filled with the standard elements, the feuding neighbours, the next door neighbour boy who has a crush on the daughter, the intelligent son who is bullied by the neighbours kid, the workaholic parents who learn the error of their ways and of course the happy ending but the movie is anything but standard.Some of the special effects are a bit dated, but that does not stop your enjoyment of it!! My 8 year old said "that looked so fake" but he was still entertained for 90 mins. It's silly, but I enjoyed a lot of it.

How realistic is the bee sequence?So, I don't know about all you fine people, but I for one bought into the whole idea of the shrink ray. So we're going to put that to the side and call it…. Realistic.Now, on to the bee. At some point during the film, our crazy group of youngsters find themselves at odds with a bee. The bee is very big, and drags two of the party away for a trip around the yard. It is subsequently hit with a baseball bat, while the kids are on board, and crashes. But it doesn't just crash anywhere in the "three mile" yard, it crashes right next to where they left. Let me re-iterate. Two 1/4 inch kids, were hit with a baseball bat, survived. Then plummeted toward the earth, landing in dense jungle (equivalent), survived. Then, as though lighting struck the same place twice, they return to their friends completely unscathed.It seems to me they could have simply had Wayne run away, and had the bee return to the flower that it abandoned. That would have been waaaay more believable…. you know, given that this movie is already unbelievable. Why push it.Why are the parents so calm?Big Russ seems to be the only one who is emotionally invested in the outcome of his children. Yes, he's a douche, but all the other parents seem to have some kinda nonchalance. Wayne and Diane find time to repair their failing marriage. Diane only seems to be worried that her daughter "behaves" with the neighbour boy. Mae spends all her time trying to rein in her husband, and his exuberance. But that night, everyone sleeps…Sleep?Call me crazy, but this might be an extreme situation. How could anyone sleep one day after the fact? I know, Wayne stays up to complete the repairs, but he does fall asleep…. Idiot. And really? Who would take a club to years of hard work? He trashed that machine without much provocation. Even if it never worked, he could have sold it as a death ray…..Alternate plans.Build a signal fire. Stay with the garbage. Travel on pavement, or along the fence. The parents could have instructed them. (Guided them, given them options, done something other then look through a spyglass) Call the authorities, (I'm sure they could have gotten the attention of someone with real clout. It's a shrink ray for gods sake, anyone would pay to see that work) ConclusionIt was a spectacle piece, and the only reason I wanted it to make more sense, was because I liked it. It was fun.http://www.primarilycritical.com