My Movie Review on Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Reconstructed)
When I was a boy, I used to not be able to watch this movie for reasons I had yet to understand.
But now, I make my sixth movie review by reviewing a movie I wasn’t allowed to watch before, but was worth watching at the right age: "Who Framed Roger Rabbit".
Here's the rundown of it:
Taking place in Hollywood during the late 1940s, and in a world where humans and cartoon characters( or Toons for short) coexist in one world, the film stars Eddie Valiant who is a down-on-his-luck detective holding a hatred and grudge against Toons because of something bad happening from his past. He gets hired by R.K Maroon to investigate and solving an adultery scandal involving Jessica Rabbit, the wife of Roger Rabbit.
However, Marvin Acme, who was Jessica's alleged paramour and owner of ToonTown, is suddenly found to have been murdered the next day, with Roger suspected to be the killer. With Judge Doom and the Toon Patrol hot on his tail, Roger turns to Valiant for help, insisting that he's been framed.
Coming from a guy who saw the film not too long ago, I will admit that I didn't think it was perfect. At the same time, though, I thought it was an awesome movie regardless!
The animation done by Richard Williams and his team of animators was amazing!
It’s definitely the best I’ve seen since Mary Poppins! Every animated element, such as the cartoon characters and backgrounds, mixed perfectly with the live-action elements. The way Williams was able to give the toons these really off-the-wall moments, such as stretching certain parts of their body and changing shape, was full-on astonishing.
The direction done by Robert Zemeckis was additionally fantastic.
The camera angling was wonderful, especially with the positioning of where they try to get the characters into face-view. The cinematography the film had also gave the feeling of a great mystery film with cartoon characters in the mix, and it fit the early 1900s time period like a glove. My only issue was that there were some scenes that seemed to be too extendy & sluggish, a notable example being the final battle between Eddie Valient and Judge Doom.
Aside from that, though...
The film’s story was extremely original, even despite being loosely based off of a book called “Who Censored Roger Rabbit?”, which is apparently different storywise. Screenwriters Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman did a wonderful job making a creative, thought-provoking narrative that can practically get people on the edge of their seats with its mystery and thrills. Plus, the humor and comedic-timings throughout the movie were nicely-worked, and it contained great heart and emotion.
The music by Alan Silvestri was enjoyable as well.
Silvestri's music was not only perfect for a detective film taking place in 1947, but also creating music that fits for one with cartoon characters. Plus, his score was one of the most emotionally-invested and personality-filled works of his career, and I can tell that he was having the time of his life being a part of the venture.
The acting, characters, and character development were top-notch too.
I was blown away by the moments when Roger Rabbit and Marvin Acme got redundant in some of their scenes, because I don’t think that’s something you see in a movie very often.
But, it was Bob Hoskins' performance as Eddie Valiant, Charles Fleischer's work as Roger Rabbit, and Christopher Lloyd's portrayal of Judge Doom that blew me away the most. Especially to where it was like they really were those characters.
Hoskins was perfect for Eddie Valiant. He definitely looked like a detective-type of character, of course. But, he also gave the character a really great personality, and the way his character talked was very realistic. Sure, the Eddie wasn't exactly the nicest person much of the time, but Hoskins's portrayal managed to translate the character as someone who was lovable and relatable regardless, especially as the film progressed. The character himself had awesome development.
Fleischer was the guy who definitely owned Roger. His comedic-timings were on point beyond compare, and it was amazing how he got the character to be someone to love regardless of his shortcomings.The fact that he also got to stand-in for his character on the screen also made Roger’s movements and interactions with the other characters very lifelike. On a side note, he did a great job at voicing Benny the Cab.
Finally, Christopher Lloyd's performance as Judge Doom is one he definitely deserves to be renowned for. As a real person, he completely fit the part of a lifelike cartoon character, even in disguise. His voice, as well as the way he made his character talk and move made him seem intimidating, and it was really awesome on how he was able to avoid blinking when the camera focused on him.
Overall, the film isn't perfect. But, it’s definitely worth the watch and is a really awesome film.
So, I rate “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” 4½ out of five stars.
Comments