The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000) 1/2 star out of 4. Starring Mark Addy, Stephen Baldwin, Kristin Johnston, Jane Krakowski, Alan Cumming, Joan Collins, Thomas Gibson and Harvey Korman
The line in "The Flintstones' " theme song says `you'll have a gay old time.'
Maybe, but not by watching "The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas."
I cannot stress how bad a movie this is. My proof? About 40 little kids were in the audience at the preview screening, and the theater remained as quiet as the La Brea tar pits, which, by the way, is where they should sink all the prints of this stinker.
"Viva Rock Vegas" is so bad, that even Joan Collins - who disgracefully hams it up as Wilma's mother - would probably not write it on her resume, and she starred in such stinkers as "The Stud" and "The Bitch," both of which are rated as bombs in "Leonard Maltin's Film and Video Guide."
This movie is nearly amateurish. It plays like a prolonged skit at a Universal theme park. The sets and costumes are just as tacky.
Every prehistoric cliché you can think of is thrown at the audience.
Even some of the animatronic dinosaurs show more spark than the actors.
OK, to be fair, the movie has a couple of redeeming qualities. Stephen Baldwin does a fine Barney Rubble impression, while Mark Addy, familiar to American audiences for his role in "The Fully Monty", does a very good Fred. Both sound like their cartoon counterparts. And Alan Cumming is funny as rock star Mick Jagged.
Others in the cast include Kristen Johnston as Wilma, Jane Krakowski as Betty, as well as Thomas Gibson and Harvey Korman.
Still, that is not enough to lure audiences to this mess. Frankly, it's just flat. And not because it is aimed at kids, but because it is so tacky and lame. The humor is mostly verbal when it should have relied on slapstick. The pace is too slow and, at just over 90 minutes, the movie runs too long.
"Viva Rock Vegas" is one fossil that should have remained buried.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at bloom@journal-courier.com or at bobbloom@iquest.net Bloom, an associate member of the Online Film Critics Society, has his reviews posted at http://www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom
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