Review of Kangaroo Jack (2003) by Jacob B — 01 Jun 2018

Hey kids, do you want to see a wacky family comedy about two guys who get constantly kicked by a rapping CGI kangaroo? Well, too bad because the kangaroo isn't the main character, he only occasionally appears in a pathetic attempt to justify the title, it's mostly two guys chasing him and you know that bit where he raps in the trailer? Sorry but it's a dream sequence that was only meant for the trailer.

Instead, you get a mix between an unfunny family comedy and an unfunny crime comedy. Because surely, unintentional sexual harassment is what every 8-year-old wants to see in their movie about a Looney Tunes kangaroo.

Yes, this movie is not as family-friendly as the advertising may have led you to believe. While the movie was released at a time when all PG-rated comedies were trying to be edgy in the wake of Shrek's success, the reason why it didn't work here because there's no subtlety.

The script casually admits saying crap like "...make your testicles fall off" and "We're having a very intimate, non-gay moment". While children are going to learn about this stuff eventually, at least don't mention them verbatim.

If Disney can write a song about an old man lusting for a much younger woman and wanting to avoid damnation without directly saying "Sex is evil and I am horny", then surely you can make some improvements as well, Warner Bros.

I'll admit Christopher Walken was the best thing about this movie and I got a laugh in just one scene which for me was basically if the writers of Austin Powers made a kids' movie(?). The humour is terrible, the action is unexciting, the characters are generic, the content is VERY PG-13, the CGI kangaroo is nightmarish and not very convincing even when he's not CGI and this movie also has the most insulting special features I've ever seen.

If you go to the bonus features menu on the DVD, everyone behaves as if the kangaroo is a big part of the movie. Must be some slow days for his voice actor. There's even a behind-the-scenes on HOW THEY MADE CAMELS FART!!! It says a lot about the quality of your movie when your crowning achievement in sound design was flatulence.

Kangaroo Jack is awful!