I'm sorry guys, I really wanted to like a movie like this, I watched it once, then I watched it again, then again. Every time it just felt like torture. Why did I try again? Here's why, it's a live-action/animated hybrid film. I've always liked films that combine animation with live action. There's something magical about a human character interacting with an animated character. Mary Poppins proved this.
I first learned of this movie when one of my co-workers said: "Have you ever seen a movie called 'Cool World?'" I told him no, he went on to describe the movie to me, he said it was about a cartoonist who was sucked into a world he presumably created. After he said that, I looked it up on Wikipedia. 'This movie doesn't seem so bad', I thought.
I did some more research and discovered that it was directed by Ralph Bakshi. A man known for his mature and vulgar animated movies. He conceived it as a live-action/animated hybrid horror flick, R rated. Paramount purchased his idea, and he wanted the movie to look like a living painting. That sounds interesting. Seeing how this was going to be made in the 90s like other visually stunning movies, this should have been great.
Unfortunately for Bakshi, the script was re-written drastically and he was forced to make the finished project which wasn't his. There's quite a bit to talk about so I will do my best to keep this review as much to the point as possible but it's going to be hard.
First thing you should know is that this movie has no plot. If it does, it makes no sense at all! I've tried to make sense of the plot but there is way to many plot holes. The characters have no character arcs for motivations, they are caricatures. The only one who is close to having an arc is Lonette, but her arc is only about wanting to love her boyfriend and sleep with him, that's not much of character. Brad Pitt's character, Frank Harris is not much of a character either, he's bland and boring. You could argue that he was hurt after the death of his mother and decides not to display much emotion, but here's the problem with that. He chooses to stay in Cool World because he claims that it's more real to him. I understand war can change a man, however, if anybody was in Cool World for any long period of time it would no doubt drive them mental with all the insane things happening.
Jack Deebs and Holli Would aren't any better. Jack is a cartoonist who is in love with Holli. There is potential to set up an arc for him in the beginning. It's mentioned he was in prison because he murdered a man who was in bed with his wife. So why not let Holli be spitting image of his ex-wife? That would explain why he is attracted to her, but the movie never explains that or anything. Holli wants to become human to cross over to the real world. Unfortunately, the only way a "doodle" can be a human is if they have sex with a "noid". Which is pretty disgusting if you ask me. Not because I think human nature like that is disgusting, but if it's with a cartoon character and a human, that's like a human and an animal! It's nightmare inducing and disgusting!
What's even worse is that when she does because human, she begins to transform back into a doodle. Which is never explained. The movie never bothers to explain anything and they leave us to fill in the blanks. I guess it's because Jack and Holli's DNA got mixed together?? I don't know, I'm trying to make sense of a bad movie! So Holli goes to find the spike to hopefully become permanent form. But she ends up becoming a doodle again. I thought she wanted to be human? So why is she happy being a doodle again??? Also, the lip sync for the doodles speech is terribly off sync. Especially for Holli. There's just too many questions with this film. I'll just write all these questions down so I don't have to try and make sense of them:
* How can humans like Jack Deebs teleport between Cool World and the real world? Is Holli teleporting him? Is he doing it himself?
* Why is the oldest law in Cool World about sex? It isn't about murder or anything worse?
* Why does having sex damage the Interworld matrix in the movie?
* Why does Holli transform back into a doodle permanently?
* Why does Holli want to merge the two worlds?
* Why do they not explain earlier about the humans becoming doodles when they die, and why does it sound so childish?
* Why does Jack stay as a superhero in the end of the movie, and why is he okay with that?
* Why do all of the inhabitants have the ability to detect if someone is with Holli in the bedroom???
* How can doodles pass through walls in the real world?
* Why did the scientist in the beginning invent the spike?
* How is Jack having visions of Cool World?
* If a human can easily get to Cool World like Frank said when he mentioned that noise have been there, what prevents a doodle from getting to the real world?
* How did the Cool World come to be if Jack Deebs didn't create it in the first place?
* How was Frank Harris able to get back to the real world exactly through his mother?
* Why would people still buy Jack Deebs comic books if they know he is a know criminal? Wouldn't that lower the value of the merchandise?
* If more noid visited the Cool World, why is Jack the first one to write about it in comics?
* If Jack wasn't the first one, are they saying that other comic book artists took inspiration from this awful movies setting?
* Why is Frank Harris the only detective in Cool World? Why didn't he bring more backup to get Holli and Jack if it was a matter of the universes safety?
* How can Jack afford his house if he was in prison for years?
* Who took care of Jack's house when he was in prison? His neighbor?
I can think of a million more questions for this movie because it makes no literal sense, but let's mention this. The Fountain Pen. The pen is actually the most creative concept in the movie. It's natural that a pen would be harmful to a doodle since most of them are made of ink. However, the movie doesn't do a good job of establishing that, it leaves us to fill in the blanks.
When watching this movie, there are instantly better movies that you can watch that are more worth your time. I will list them now:
* DICK TRACY: Dick Tracy works well with its visual backgrounds and style better than Cool World. Cool World splashes everything in your face, the colors and toons, while Dick Tracy easily gives you an easy watch by the nice colors and the story isn't bad. Let's also mention that Breathless Mahoney had a better character arc than Holli Would, as Tess Trueheart also had compared to Lonette. The fact that you can compare these two women shows how bland this movie is. While you're at it, compare Dick Tracy to Frank Harris.
* WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT: This is an obvious. Roger Rabbit's animation style was done better than Cool Worlds. The characters' lip movement was better, yet Cool World was made later, so why is it worse??? Who Framed Roger Rabbit also handled its adult humor better than Cool World. Cool World feels like a porno movie at times. Which is sad and disturbing.
* MYSTERY MEN: I know this is out of place, but hear me out. Champion City in Mystery Men looks like a cooler city than Cool World. Not to mention that Mystery Men is based off a comic book series.
* THE MASK: Another left field, but here's where it fits in. The Mask was based off a comic book, and it has cartoony moments in the film, as well as a nice city background. It's easily more watchable.
End result: Don't waste brain cells or moments of your life on Cool World. You will get nightmares and there is a reason that this movie got a 4% on rotten tomatoes!
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