![]() ![]() Young Wilma, whose maiden name is Slaghoople, is suddenly revealed to come from money. (Perhaps another purist might even argue that these youthful versions of the characters don’t have to be as developed as their later selves though I would maintain that characters in a live-action feature film adaptation of a cartoon need to be less two-dimensional, not more, than the originals.) But what about the film’s odd preoccupation with such adult themes as class, money, and sex? Class, money, and sex The cartoon Wilma was as down to earth as this version, but more prosaic and sensible and while Betty was this merry, she was never this bubble-headed.Īre these issues only an animation purist could get worked up about? Perhaps. Addy is allowed to be as brash and clueless as the cartoon Fred, but not as blustery or testy while Baldwin is given Barney’s cheerful dopeyness but not his equilibrium or relatively healthy instincts (relative to Fred, that is). Unfortunately, the actors’ performances are undermined, not only by the script as a whole, but specifically by the characterizations written for them. Only the talented but statuesque Kristen Johnston ( Third Rock from the Sun), great fun to watch though she is, is just never persuasive as the petite, self-possessed Wilma. Viva’s Jane Krakowski ( Ally McBeal), on the other hand, is a real Betty, and her bubbly, sparkling performance is of the best things about the movie (and it turns out she does Betty’s trilling laugh as well as Rosie). Rosie O’Donnell, despite her uncanny ability to reproduce Betty’s laugh, was woefully miscast in the original, as much because of her ironic, detached persona as her body type. By contrast, Mark Addy (best known as "the fat one" from The Full Monty) is quite convincing as a younger and somewhat lighter Fred, and even Stephen Baldwin (best known from the M&M commercials with the big blue animated M&M mocking his acting ability) shines as the dim-witted but loveable Barney Rubble. From what I did see of the first film, John Goodman and Rick Moranis were passable as Fred and Barney, but somehow they never stopped being, well, John Goodman and Rick Moranis in animal-print togas. The cast of Viva is less well-known than that of the original, but that’s a plus, not a minus. We need to be convinced that we’re watching the same characters we already know from the cartoon and the look of the actors, as well as the performance, has to be just right. On the other hand, my feeling is that the casting this time around is generally better than in the first film, and that’s important: seldom are casting requirements so specific as in a live-action adaptation of a cartoon. (Actually, I wonder if at least some of my childhood taste for The Flintstones wasn’t also based on the Just Because it’s Ice Cream principle.) To be fair, the plot is no dopier than a typical Flintstones cartoon but then the typical Flintstones cartoon is only about 22 minutes long and gives you a break with commercials. I will say that Viva Rock Vegas isn’t even as good as the cartoon was which is saying quite a bit. Not having sat all the way through the first film through myself, I won’t further muddy the waters with my own opinion. ![]() Not so much nasty, like coffee ice cream to a child but rather bland, inert, and joyless, like some insipid sugar-free fat-free Frozen Dessert Product.Ĭritics and fans seem about evenly split which is better, this film or its predecessor. ![]() Kids may happily gobble up Viva just because it’s a movie based on a popular cartoon show and even parents desperate for watchable family entertainment may allow themselves to be seduced by its colorful set pieces and the goofy charm of the cast. I think that a similar dynamic may be at work in The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas, a prequel to the 1994 film that purports to tell us how young Fred and Barney first met and married Wilma and Betty (respectively). But I was happy to eat it, just because it was ice cream.
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