This Casper prequel is such a nostalgia trip for me that I don't think I can ever hate it. There are flaws and this is truly not a good movie, but over the years I was able to see how there could have been two good movies.
Notice I've said "TWO good movies." There's nothing wrong with multiple stories happening (checkout 'Magnolia' and 'Short Cuts'), but when neither reach any kind of potential they have, you know it has bitten off more than it can chew. The first story involves how Casper became a friendly ghost. It is never said how he actually becomes the ghost, just that he needs to graduate a scare school. This unfinished background could easily have been avoided. Barely anything else happens with Casper and the scare school the rest of the movie.
The other story takes up the chunk of the film. It involves neglected ten-year-old outcast named Chris Carson whose single-parent father Tim (Steven Guttenberg) is a municipal workaholic. To make matters worse, Chris' overactive imagination has made him a perfect target for bullies. Tim really wants to tear down the city's landmark Applegate Mansion for more profitable estate, a move strongly opposed by Chris' teacher (Lori Loughlin). The Mansion is where the Ghostly Trio lives and where Casper's friendship with Chris grows. Aside from a few cool scenes of Casper doing fun ghost actions, the entire movie mostly deals with Chris' loneliness and Casper comforting him. Bad move making Casper just a side character.
The bitterness between Chris and Tim is heartbreaking and badly done. There has been lots of movies where parents are workaholics, but Tim just seems like a severely selfish, incompetent parent. There is even the scene that boils so much that it causes Chris to just run away. That is such a gut-wrenching scene because Tim is such a mean father and his constant neglect is child abuse. The bullies jump Chris and lock him in the mansion hours before its demolition. Chris' near death situation (and a little conversation with Casper) gives Tim a change of heart and realizes how bad a parent he's been. But what angers me and most people about this is how little payoff there was. The bullies should have been put on trial, but they just get wedgies. Tim's realization was a major copout. If this was a movie all by itself without Casper, I guarantee there would have been no shortcuts and there would have been suitable payoffs. Same thing goes for the Casper story.
The special effects (which really aren't that bad, typical late 90s tv CGI) and star-studded cast were not enough to save this.
2/4
Notice I've said "TWO good movies." There's nothing wrong with multiple stories happening (checkout 'Magnolia' and 'Short Cuts'), but when neither reach any kind of potential they have, you know it has bitten off more than it can chew. The first story involves how Casper became a friendly ghost. It is never said how he actually becomes the ghost, just that he needs to graduate a scare school. This unfinished background could easily have been avoided. Barely anything else happens with Casper and the scare school the rest of the movie.
The other story takes up the chunk of the film. It involves neglected ten-year-old outcast named Chris Carson whose single-parent father Tim (Steven Guttenberg) is a municipal workaholic. To make matters worse, Chris' overactive imagination has made him a perfect target for bullies. Tim really wants to tear down the city's landmark Applegate Mansion for more profitable estate, a move strongly opposed by Chris' teacher (Lori Loughlin). The Mansion is where the Ghostly Trio lives and where Casper's friendship with Chris grows. Aside from a few cool scenes of Casper doing fun ghost actions, the entire movie mostly deals with Chris' loneliness and Casper comforting him. Bad move making Casper just a side character.
The bitterness between Chris and Tim is heartbreaking and badly done. There has been lots of movies where parents are workaholics, but Tim just seems like a severely selfish, incompetent parent. There is even the scene that boils so much that it causes Chris to just run away. That is such a gut-wrenching scene because Tim is such a mean father and his constant neglect is child abuse. The bullies jump Chris and lock him in the mansion hours before its demolition. Chris' near death situation (and a little conversation with Casper) gives Tim a change of heart and realizes how bad a parent he's been. But what angers me and most people about this is how little payoff there was. The bullies should have been put on trial, but they just get wedgies. Tim's realization was a major copout. If this was a movie all by itself without Casper, I guarantee there would have been no shortcuts and there would have been suitable payoffs. Same thing goes for the Casper story.
The special effects (which really aren't that bad, typical late 90s tv CGI) and star-studded cast were not enough to save this.
2/4