Review of Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) by Ben L — 18 Apr 2016

Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a truly remarkable film that was both way ahead of its time and strongly reminiscent of films from our past. Every time I watch this movie I marvel at how well they blend the cartoon animation with the live action.

Yes, you can see the disconnect between the two if you're analyzing it closely, but the movie is so entertaining you kind of forget. Also the cast of actors are so good that you genuinely feel there's someone there when they are really just talking with thin air.

Then there's the story which feels like it was plucked straight out of a classic film noir. There's a private detective who takes a case that results in murder, he suspects a femme fatale, and has to piece together the clues before his client gets murdered as well.

Honestly, if you take away the living cartoons you could almost see Humphrey Bogart starring in this thing. Speaking of which, Bob Hoskins is delightful in the lead role. I think he does a good job of displaying anger and frustration with his life, and his interactions with Roger are great.

I love Christopher Lloyd as Judge Doom also, but I kind of wish his performance was a little more subtle because he is so obviously evil from his very first moment on screen that you kind of feel like he's up to something from the beginning.

Luckily there are still surprises that get revealed in the end so it never mattered all that much to me. I think the only real problem I ever had with this movie is that the cartoons give the illusion that this might be a kids movie, so I saw it when it first came out and I was still a bit young for that.

Between the adult themes that permeate most of the film, and the scary ending I was terrified. But for adults I think Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a winner that still holds up well today.