A Babysitter's Guide to monster Hunting is straight-to-video fare for family viewing around Halloween, and Rachel Talalay's direction, along with Tom Felton's villain keep it one notch above cheesy TV quality.
Sure, it's merely a bit of disposable, light-hearted fun for kids and family, but there's nothing wrong with that. Personally, I don't think it would have hurt to be a little darker and more scary, whilst keeping things family friendly. Kids enjoy being scared (Well, I did. Maybe that's just me...). The biggest flaw is that there is no real sense of threat or danger for the heroes. For example, the villain's minions are told to get rid of the heroine, and the worst they do is attempt to put her in a lift, so she leaves... If this is the worst the villain intends to do, even to his enemies, it undermines any sense of danger or threat.
The young actors do a reasonable job, though I do wish the costume designer had restrained things a little. The teenage character costumes (especially the lead) _do_ feel like something out of a bad TV series, where they equate bad, stereotyped costumes with 'cool and quirky'. It's a fine line, I know, but they could've been far less 'bad stereotype' and more defining of individual characters.
It's probably a solid 6/10, but I'll bump it up to a 7 because, in 2020, it's a kids movie that _didn't_ push any agenda, and just wants to be family fun. As the review title says, that's all it needs to be!
Sure, it's merely a bit of disposable, light-hearted fun for kids and family, but there's nothing wrong with that. Personally, I don't think it would have hurt to be a little darker and more scary, whilst keeping things family friendly. Kids enjoy being scared (Well, I did. Maybe that's just me...). The biggest flaw is that there is no real sense of threat or danger for the heroes. For example, the villain's minions are told to get rid of the heroine, and the worst they do is attempt to put her in a lift, so she leaves... If this is the worst the villain intends to do, even to his enemies, it undermines any sense of danger or threat.
The young actors do a reasonable job, though I do wish the costume designer had restrained things a little. The teenage character costumes (especially the lead) _do_ feel like something out of a bad TV series, where they equate bad, stereotyped costumes with 'cool and quirky'. It's a fine line, I know, but they could've been far less 'bad stereotype' and more defining of individual characters.
It's probably a solid 6/10, but I'll bump it up to a 7 because, in 2020, it's a kids movie that _didn't_ push any agenda, and just wants to be family fun. As the review title says, that's all it needs to be!