Review of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) by Kai82 — 10 Jun 2022

The movie is pure childhood nostalgia for me. It is really funny, has great ideas and the characters aka actors deliver a great performance. It is a good Disney movie I would describe as fantasy comedy (or maybe science fiction is more fitting).

I hesitate to call it a great “family movie” as the phrase is tainted for others. Firstly I must admit the title is already a mayor spoiler. It is a story around the Szalinski family. Wayne Szalinski is maybe an arc type for the nice but quirky and brilliant scientist.

He has developed at his family home a machine that can shrink objects but does need some improvements to work properly. Things escalate when his children activate the machine by accident while he and his wife are away.

This is the start of a “little” adventure (Sorry could not resist to make this lame joke). Like I said this is a unique adventure and gives a different perspective. Think about what you can do if you are the size of an ant and nobody knows what happened to you.

They use this idea for a clever, unique and enjoyable movie. It is no surprise that this became one of the most successful (live action) Disney movies of its time. Also the humour is spot on and I don't remember many misses.

The actors improve this. Rick Moranis is a great actor and fully delivers a great performance. I think he is underappreciated in generell outside my generation. As sidenote: When his wife died he quit his successful movie career to care for his children.

My full respect for this. Back to the actors. All family members also deliver a truly good performance. I want to praise Marcia Strassman, Amy O’Neil and Robert Oliveri. Their neighbours the Thompsons were entertaining too and with Kristine Sutherland, Matt Frewer, Thomas Wilson Brown and Jared Rushton they again chose fitting actors.

A really good overall cast. The special effects were amazing back then. Everything was so believable that I never question anything. I think the combination of a great story, actors, humour and effects make this so compelling.

Overall I truly liked this movie and give a 10/10. Be warned like I said I am influenced by childhood nostalgia but I also don't know many people who do not like this movie.