Goosebumps

RATING: B

I never bothered to read the Goosebumps series; for one, I've never been into the horror genre in any way; even when I was younger, I was never interested in the whole thing. Secondly, there's *so many of them.* Apparently there's about 180 of those books? Jeez. So it was partially by accident that I even became mildly interested in watching this movie in the first place. Unless I had randomly seen a trailer of it, I wouldn't have cared when I found out it was coming out. 

As best as I can tell, this actually isn't based off a particular book in the series or even multiple books; it's more or less just based off the various monsters. And other creatures. And, um, the author himself. Fictionalized for the movie. Yup, you read that right. In a clever move, we end up getting R.L. Stine himself as a character (played by Jack Black in one of his better performances). 

The plot of this movie revolves around when some kid named Zach (played by an actor I was stunned to find was not Logan Lerman--must've been his twin he never knew about) moves next door to the reclusive Stine and his much less reclusive daughter Hannah. Through a series of misunderstandings and circumstances, Zach and his idiot new "friend" Champ end up breaking into Stine's house where they find a bunch of Goosebumps manuscripts. Locked. And Zach decides to unlock one of them. 

And lo and behold, out comes the Abominable Snowman of Pasadena (well, that's what they call him in the actual book he came from, anyway). Because the creatures that Stine wrote about can actually become real (although *how,* exactly, is never really explained--aside from some apparently magical typewriter). And then a bunch of other creatures get released accidentally. And so on. And now Stine, Zach, and Hannah have to capture these creatures and put them back into the books before they lay waste to their hometown--Gremlins & Jumanji style. 

I have to admit, I wasn't expecting too much out of this movie, but I was surprisingly entertained most of the way through it. The events that set the movie in motion are admittedly rather dumb, and to be fair, it's not a movie that you can take too seriously. Thankfully, you're allowed to figure that out fairly quick--considering that when the first monster (the Snowman) appears, he doesn't rampage first--he investigates his surroundings first like a lost dog. Amusingly. But it's actually pretty decent entertainment all around for the most part. We're actually given a couple of clever plot twists (one of which is impossible to see coming), and Jack Black's performance is *brilliant* (even if no one else's is). Probably the actual worst thing about this film is the male sidekick "Champ," whom I guess was supposed to be comic relief because of his idiocy and social ineptness. Guess what? It wasn't funny. It was annoying. 

The often tongue-in-cheek-ness of the film actually allows for an almost throwback-to-the-80's feel at times, while still keeping a clear 2010's flavor--something that actually works for them. That said, the film does feel ever-so-slightly ridiculous every now and then. And there are a couple plot points that make little sense (I guess you have to read the books). It's not a classic, but it's fun enough that it makes for pretty good family viewing. I've never read the books, nor do I still wish to. But this movie is good enough to stand on its own merits.