Review of The Flintstones (1994) by Filipeneto — 23 Aug 2018

I always liked the cartoon "Flintstones", which I went on TV when I was a kid, but this movie proved to be much weaker than I thought it could be. The plot starts well, puts Fred in a morally reprehensible position, getting an enviable promotion at the expense of his faithful friend, Barney, and confronting him with regrets and consequences. But this ends up making the film too serious and thoughtful, erasing the very fragile attempts to make comedy that are tempted through it. I confess I was expecting a stronger bet on comedy and this disappointed me but, after that, I was able to appreciate this work better and enjoy it for what it is: a family film, with a moral lesson behind and emotional moments, but able to please both children and adults.

The work done to recreate scenarios and props of the cartoon is quite satisfactory and shows us most of environments we have become accustomed to associate with it. John Goodman is a good Fred Flintstone. The physical similarities have helped but the psychological construction of the character also deserves congratulations. Elizabeth Perkins gave life to Wilma in a very interesting way. Rick Moranis was OK as Barney, but made the character too naive to be worthy of credibility. Rosie O'Donnell was OK too. Halle Berry was decent in one more character where the actress does not have much to do (well, since I never considered her particularly talented, maybe it's better). It was nice to see the diva Elizabeth Taylor, although in a small cameo Wilma's mother.