THE KING AND I A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 1999 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): *
In order to adapt the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical classic, THE KING AND I, for more modern tastes and sensibilities, the new animated movie employed no less than 5 writers (Arthur Rankin, Peter Bakalian, Jacqueline Feather, David Seidler and Brian Nissen). So what did this assemblage of script doctors come up with? Dental floss.
The villain's assistant is a heavily stereotyped Chinese man, Master Little, who is built like a very pregnant basketball. He's a mid-nineteenth century man who worries about tooth decay. The sight joke in the opening sequence has him flossing away. And that's about as funny as this dead-on-arrival movie ever gets.
The vastly altered story is so minimalist that the movie plays like a music video. Between songs, the movie tosses the audience only the barest outlines of a plot. Even this might be tolerable if the singing weren't so incredibly bland.
If your kids, like mine, have never seen the original play or movie, they may come away with a very negative view of it. When you try to explain to them that this can be a sweet musical with some wonderful songs, don't be surprised if they stare at you in total disbelief. Most amateur musical productions provide more lively singing than this motion picture production.
I've criticized DOUG'S 1ST MOVIE, THE RUGRATS MOVIE and other recent kids' movies for being no better than the television series upon which they are based. This version of THE KING AND I, however, sets a lower standard. It isn't even as good as most kids' television series.
The quality of the animation is particularly annoying. The characters lack proper fluidity, moving in small jerky motions as if the filmmakers tried to cut costs by reducing the amount of changes between one animation cell and the next. In addition, the animators need to study the natural movements of the human body. Their characters walk with a spastic awkwardness, rather like a robot trying to mimic a human.
The uninspired writers fall back on the old cliche of an animal companion as a way to pump up the comedy. This time they go for a simian sidekick, but he isn't the least bit funny. They also throw in a bit of the witch from SNOW WHITE in an attempt to enliven the drama, but it is horribly out of place. Do we really need a magic mirror in THE KING AND I?
The truly frightening line comes at what looks like the end of the movie. "It's not over yet!" the villain yells. Chills went down my spine as I realized he was right. We had another quarter of an hour to endure.
THE KING AND I runs 1:27, but feels much longer. It is rated G and would be acceptable for all ages.
My son Jeffrey, age 10, said the movie almost put him to sleep. (His head was on my shoulder through over half of the movie.) He gave it just one *, complaining that none of the characters or the songs were interesting. He thought the writers did an especially poor job of explaining any of the motivation, which made the story confusing.
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: www.InternetReviews.com
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