I was pretty excited to watch this film. The premise sounded interesting – a boy gets a cupboard as a birthday gift, and finds that whenever he puts a toy in it, that toy comes to life. Sounds pretty cute and innocent, right? Oh, I was so wrong.
In the first place, the movie took forever to get going, and actually was pretty slow all the way through. That was one strike against it. But it continued disappointing me from there. At one point, the boy, named Omri, brought an old Indian toy to life, and he was so afraid to see the giant boy standing over him that he had a heart attack and died. Really died, right there in the boy’s room. Little Bear, the first Indian Omri adopted, scolded him for using magic he didn’t know how to control, and I totally agreed. It was not a game. People were getting yanked out of their own lives to become the persons changed from toys. Little Bear had been hiking through the woods with his nephew when he suddenly appeared in Omri’s closet, and by being with Omri, he was no longer living his own life.
Patrick, Omri’s friend, is an obnoxious little brat who insists on bringing a cowboy toy to life in the cupboard, even when Omri tells him no. The cowboy and the Indian proceed to have a gun and arrow fight, and the cowboy gets struck with an arrow and nearly dies.
At one point, the boys are watching MTV and a filthy music video comes on, with scantily clad, gyrating women. Whatever.
At another point, Omri gets mad at his older brother, and kicks his brother’s rat across the room. The rat was in one of those pet exercise balls and went flying across the hall, bouncing down the stairs, and spun around crazily for several seconds before finally coming to a stop. That was a very cruel action and I didn’t appreciate having it modeled for me.
And did I mention that the cowboy swears up a blue streak, including taking the Lord’s name in vain?
I went into the movie expecting a cute adventure, and came away blinking in disbelief. The themes were far too adult for a children’s movie. It’s one thing to bring a toy to life, but another to yank them out of their own lives, hold them against their will, and then to have them actually die on you. I’m so glad I watched this movie after my kids were in bed; it’s not one I will ever show them.
This film is rated PG.
If you want a good fantasy, watch some of these movies instead: