Goosebumps At Least It S Better Than Pixels

On paper, Goosebumps is an even more child-friendly version of Pixels, except instead of videogame characters, we’ve got the monsters from the R.L. Stine’s titular book series. If you vividly remember that series, and those memories are positive, then Goosebumps will play like a nostalgia-fest, where you constantly try to pick out various monsters, reminisce about the stories from which they appear, and ignore everything else. If you aren’t fond of the books, then you’re likely just going to feel apathetic about the whole experience. Zach Cooper (Dylan Minnette) and his mother (Amy Ryan) begin the film moving to Madison, Delaware, after the mother accepted a job to be the assistant principal at the high school. They’re neighbors to a reclusive man (Jack Black) and his daughter, Hannah (Odeya Rush). Zach, being a no-good do-gooder, recruits his friend, Champ (Ryan Lee) and breaks into the house next door to “save” Hannah, whom he believes is being held prisoner. Once inside, he finds several Goosebumps manuscripts, which are locked for some reason. He opens one, which eventually causes a chain reaction, and then monsters appear, because the aforementioned recluse is a fictionalized version of R.L. Stine, and he is so magical that he made actual monsters. “Jack Black is the best actor in the movie” is a phrase I never thought I’d say, but it’s true in this case. Black makes a fairly effective R.L. Stine, which is another thing I never thought I’d say. He gets most of the funny lines, he’s creepy when he needs to be, and he commands the screen. His younger co-workers, meanwhile, struggle to show much of any emotion and give us very little insight into their characters. Dylan Minnette is a bland lead, Odeya Rush is at her best when she’s condescending – once she starts being a “good” character, it all falls apart – and Ryan Lee plays a stereotype. Goosebumps is a loving greatest-hits compilation, but it’s little more than that. It’s nice that it doesn’t have a seething hatred for both its source material and its audience, but that’s not enough to make it a good movie. Thanks to a lack of scares or laughs, mediocre special effects, and bad acting from everyone not named “Jack Black,” Goosebumps is a movie whose greatest appeal is to children who haven’t learned that there are much more sophisticated stories out there. May I recommend Stephen King? Bottom Line: Goosebumps will give you nostalgia if you still hold the titular series in high regard, but if that’s not the case, it’ll come across as a relentless, but not terribly engaging, monster movie. Recommendation: If you’re still reading (and enjoying) the Goosebumps books, you’ll probably love the movie. If that’s not the case, go ahead and skip it. [rating=2]