Review of Casper (1995) by Sarah E — 23 Nov 2011

Casper is a movie that manages to entertain two very distinct audiences for two very different reasons. Children will enjoy all the slapstick and gross-out humour provided by the three ghostly uncles, the goofy, cartoony special effects, and the intelligence and capability of the two child leads in the film - one of whom is an animated character; meanwhile, parents can enjoy all the kooky references, the sharp dialogue, and the mature themes in the film. It's really a win-win. About the only element of the film I will comment on is some of the darker material. For a family movie about ghosts, Casper does not shy away from discussing death, and indeed, the eponymous character relays a very clipped but poignant monologue about his own demise as a child and his subsequent haunting of the house. But there are some scenes the push the boundaries of appropriateness well beyond what they should. There are scenes where the uncles plot to murder Bill Pullman's character and another where a addle-brained exorcist has his head rotated 180 degrees that might disturb some children and some parents for the same reason rather than different ones.

Despite these momentary lapses in judgment, Casper is worth watching. It is one of the few adaptations of a beloved television cartoon - perhaps the only one - that succeeds at paying homage to the original series while providing a new, interesting storyline to update the material. It's also worth noting that the young characters in this movie, Kat and Casper, are refreshing additions to a genre overrun with stupid, charmless protagonists. Christina Ricci's Kat is level-headed, snarky and intelligent. Ricci plays her loneliness in a way that isn't self-indulgent or pathetic; it never leaves her passive or wallowing in self-pity. On the contrary, Kat's loneliness and independence makes her an admirable female protagonist, one of the few teenage girls on film worth taking a lesson or two from. Bill Pullman plays her father well too, hitting just the right notes to make him a sympathetic but still learning when it comes to parenting. Not that Kat needs a parent.

The animated characters are also worth mentioning here, because even though they push the limits of disbelief with all their might, the movie manages to make them believable and entertaining in their own right. They hold up to the test of time too thanks to their aesthetic. The animators were right to keep them cartoony. It makes them fun to watch ten years after the fact.

Eat me, Iron Man 2.