Small Soldiers (1998)
A Film Review by Mark O'Hara
At the cineplex on Sunday, the sexes were segregated.
My wife took our ten year-old daughter to see MADELINE, while I accompanied our 13 year-old son into the theater showing SMALL SOLDIERS. The separation was as predictable as Happy Meals: who would want the mini-Barbie, and who got the slick Hot Wheels?
The film does have parts interesting to boys and girls alike. The early teen Alan Abernathy (Gregory Smith) develops a fast infatuation with Christy Fimple, the girl next door who happens to be dating another, older boy with a motorcycle. The boy-meets-and-then-rescues-girl scenario is one of the more engaging subplots in the film. Dunst delivers a smooth performance, whether she is watching her little brother or fighting off her own "Gwendy" dolls, which have been transmogrified into half-melted, hair-raising drones. Smith is also very likable in his role, especially when he is careful not to overact when an action figure he's brought home begins impossibly to interact with him. Characterization is the aspect in which Alan Abernathy falls short. The writers decided to add to his character a dimension that does not work. Alan has a questionable history; he's been expelled from two schools and his parents apparently have moved here to escape the ignominy. But we see no motivation for the boy's past behavior; we never understand what has caused his mischievous history, so the honor and bravery he ultimately shows never change the viewer's mind about Alan. We always like him.
My son had the most fun watching the "Elite Commandos," the grotesquely grinning grunts hopped up on Defense Department microchips, the gimmicky toys that Dreamworks SKG hopes will sell well in stores and fast-food joints. In the film the figures come alive at their owner's voice. We first meet the intelligent toys when Alan cons his friendly delivery man to leave a complete set (six Commandos, six "Gorgonites") at his absent father's toy store. Not until he brings home Archer does he realize that, when you play with these toys, they play back. Soon the Gorgonite leader Archer, speaking in Frank Langella's deep and gentle voice, shows us that these monsters have been cast against type. They may be hideous, but they are also goofy and lovable, rascally and noble. And they are the targets of the programmed wrath of the soldiers.
Chip Hazard (voice of Tommy Lee Jones) leads with an amoral abandon I have not seen since Robert Duvall's army officer in APOCALYPSE NOW. What is interesting in the depiction of these G. I. Joes for the new century is their dual nature. They seem like cool, all-time exciting toys, while they also subtly attack the sensibilities of violence. If the movie makes any political statement, it is that our culture demands entertainment (including toys and movies) that glorifies violence, while we simultaneously admire justice and gentleness. But I give too much credit. The special effects are seamless, as good as those in TOY STORY because of the added facet of live action. They work because they bring off the wonderful exaggeration of the plot: playthings turned bad, searching Dad's workbench for weapons, adapting Black and Decker and Craftsman into war machines. The voices under Lee's command are masterful, albeit part of an inside joke. Ernest Borgnine, Jim Brown, Clint Walker, George Kennedy - fragments of "The Dirty Dozen"! If only we got to hear them more!
As Gil Mars, owner of Globotech, Denis Leary is cold but not sinister enough. His company has gobbled up Heartland Toys and caused the creation of the Commandos and Gorgonites, along with the conflicts that will no doubt affect the humans around them. What Mr. Mars teaches young viewers is that, if you cut a big enough check, you can appease the anger even of decent people, including Alan's father. Director Joe Dante should have instructed Leary to act more menacing and less indifferent. Or cast one of the original "Dozen" in person to show us how badness is done. Perhaps Borgnine could have reprised his role in FROM HERE TO ETERNITY.
When Joe Dante worked on GREMLINS in the early 80's, he oversaw one of the early films rated PG-13. I can recall seeing a need for the rating when I noticed too many small children in the theater. They loved the violence, the frenetic action and irreverent potty jokes. It was easy to notice the way the movie, before our very eyes, desensitized the children to these examples of crudeness. It was probably then that my wife and I recognized the rating system meant what it said about age.
The darkness of many scenes in SMALL SOLDIERS, paired with the violence and a few obscene phrases, makes the film unsuitable for a ten year-old, male or female. Unfortunately, it is easier to shush loud movie-goers than it is to scold parents who have dragged their twin four year-olds to a PG-13.
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