movie review- the animal

The Animal is one of those movies that most people will either love or totally despise with very little middle ground. It's just as stupid as the previews suggest. And when going for the outrageously stupid, you've really gotta go over the top to make it work these days. The question becomes does it make the audience laugh enough or does it just become hard to watch and make you wanna cover your eyes?

In this case, I laughed, I laughed alot. And most of the rest of audience also seemed to be laughing quite a bit. The previews and commercials for this movie are actually a pretty good test. If you laughed when you saw the trailer and thought the bits you saw on screen were funny, you'll likely enjoy it. The movie is full of more gags just like the ones in the promo pieces.

For those who may not have caught the premise of the movie, it's pretty simple. Your basic hapless loser, played by Rob Schneider, is really trampled on by everyone around him and life in general. He's involved in a major car accident and rescued by a mad doctor type person who puts him back together with animal parts. Although he looks the same on the outside, he now has some uncanny powers courtesy of the animals inside him. However, he's not in complete control of those animal instincts which makes for some hilarious scenes especially when he's either hungry or horny.

If this all sounds silly and stupid, rest assured, it is. But it managed to keep me laughing. Although they mixed in the obligatory romance, at no point does it really get slow. They kept it mercifully short, it's under 90 minutes. I have no problem with that, if you've only got 80 minutes of material, let's see it, don't try to stretch it. For comedies in particular, it's hard to maintain a side splitting pace for more than 90 minutes.

We're giving this movie 4 stars. I enjoyed myself and would recommend the movie to anyone who liked the trailer or promos. It delivers exactly what it promised and provides a nice mindless alternative to some of the other movies out this summer. If you're in the mood to check your brain at the door and just have a good laugh, give it a look.