![]() I fully expect critics to focus on the weaknesses, which are there, but for who it is made for I think it does a pretty good job. I think the target demographic will really enjoy Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life. I even got a little teary-eyed in a moment between Rafe and his sister Georgia. ![]() With Rafe and his family dealing with a recent loss, there were some emotional scenes and the cast pulls them off well. However, on the plus side there was more heart than I expected. There were a lot of kids and pre-teens in my audience and there were long patches were nobody was laughing, which is a problem. For example, nothing made me laugh in this film as much as the DMV scene in Disney’s recent Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day. I never liked Rob Riggle, and every time he was on screen I was annoyed. The main antagonist, like Edward Rooney and Roy Stalin, are allowed to shine. If you think of classic teen comedies, like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off or Better Off Dead, the parents are kind of background characters. The problem is we already have an antagonist. He is animated as a bear and he really is such a jerk. Where the movie loses a ton of points is a subplot involving Rob Riggle as Rafe’s mom’s fiance. The music is also a lot of fun with modern hip-hop and classic rock songs like Twisted Sisters’ ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It.’ The animation really popped on the screen and I could have used even more of them. We also get really fun animated sequences throughout the film mostly showing Principal Dwight as some kind of zombie chasing Rafe. ![]() This upsets Principal Dwight, and he and Rafe spar off in a battle of wills. At one point he even bans using the bathroom as a punishment to the kids.Īfter Principal Dwight destroys Rafe’s sketchbook, Rafe and a friend decide to get back and pull a variety of outlandish pranks that are actually quite creative (if admittedly unrealistic but who really cares about that?). He has a whole book of rules that micromanage everything from a students’ wardrobe to what they touch and where they walk. That is where our main antagonist comes in, Principal Dwight played by Andy Daly. He sketches and doodles sometimes through the night and is a kid that doesn’t like obeying rules – especially when they are stupid rules. Rafe is played by Griffin Gluck and I bet a lot in the Rotonation will be able to relate to him. Middle School is based on the James Patterson best seller, and it is about a boy named Rafe who is forced to go to a new school after dealing with a family tragedy.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |