Why so much hype?

Absolutely Brilliant!

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

In 1964, The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show is canceled. Thirty five years later, Rocky and Bullwinkle's world is crumbling. Rocky doesn't even fly anymore. With the fall of the Iron Curtan, Fearless Leader (Robert De Niro), Boris Badenov (Jason Alexander), and Natasha Fatale (Rene Russo) go underground and dig their way to Hollywood. Studio executive Minnie Mogul signs a contract with the trio attached to the project which gets them pulled into the real world. They are buying up all the cable channels to broadcast RBTV (Really Bad TeleVision) and hypnotize the country. FBI agent Karen Sympathy (Piper Perabo) is sent to get Rocky and Bullwinkle to take down the villains.This movie keeps to the spirit of goofy humor of the original TV show. It is full of the sly comedy and sarcastic references. I would have liked all the characters from the cartoon to remain in their 2 dimensional animated look. It's probably a mistake to have real actors play the cartoon villains. No matter how hard the three actors try, they can never get the cartoon feeling into their characters. They feel flat and rather tiresome. Piper Perabo is adorable and works well with Rocky and Bullwinkle. However she gets separated from them and the chemistry dissipates. It's a simple road trip movie and should be a lot easier than this.

I was completely entranced by the anticipation of a revival of a childhood classic that appealed to adults and children alike. Here was a remake that had obviously spared no expense in assembling an incredible cast of characters known for their skill in both drama and comedy. Who would have thought that those responsible would have created a vehicle so completely alien to their talents. While I wanted to turn off the movie, it was like watching a horrible accident that one could not tear one's eyes away from. A lasting testimony that simply hiring an all-star cast cannot make up for a non- existent screenplay. It is painful to watch as these talented actors struggle to bring life to this dead script only to prove that it is far easier to kill one's career than a cartoon.

The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show was set up as a low-budget parody of television and film animation. It was rife with in-jokes, sardonic comments on the media, bad puns, occasional feints at adult humor. It was not your average kids show. It wore its poverty-row production on its sleeve. It mocked all our expectations, and a good many of our cultural shibboleths - contemporary academia and small-town middle-America both felt its sting. Having avoided this film for a decade (presuming that Hollywood would bollix it up the way they had with the Warner Bros. cartoon characters and Casper the ghost), I at last found a cheap copy and said what the heck. Well, I was very much - and very pleasantly - surprised. The film is quite true to the original program. I love it when Whoopi Goldberg is referred to as "the honorable Judge Cameo". I love the sun bouncing up and down at sunrise and sunset. I am glad they dealt with Rocky's 'fear of flying' again (and getting over it) without any sentimentality. The in-jokes and sarcastic cultural references and media lampoons are all intact - those who complain about the animation and special effects miss the several remarks on the poor animation from the characters themselves - the animation and SFx are supposed to be borderline, that's part of the joke! So too the over-the-top characterizations and acting. (The real illusion of cinema's 'art of illusion' is that generated by an audience expecting the illusions to 'look real' - it is this illusion - the audience's - that the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, and now the movie, mock.) The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show was kinda like Jazz - you either got it or you didn't. The low rating on this film only indicates that this is true for the movie as well. The original show largely survived because of its low cost, and through syndication allowing it to be re-edited for marginal time slots, e.g., 5 am. It was only years after it ceased production that it's real strengths began endearing it to millions. In like manner, I suspect this film is on its own quiet, gradual way to becoming a cult classic. Parents will play it for their kids who will wonder "WTF?!" - then, ten years later the light-bulb will click on for those same kids, and they will 'get it' - and another generation of Rocky and Bullwinkle fans will come of age.

I really liked it as a kid, but I saw it again after 5 years or so, and it doesn't wow me as much. It isn't a terrible film, but it isn't a great one either. I will confess I haven't seen the show, so I can't judge whether Rocky and Bullwinkle were out of character, though I did read somewhere, that the voice of Bullwinkle was not the same as the one in the show. Well, the show is 35 years old or so. The biggest flaw, and I really hate to say this, is Robert DeNiro, yet another talented actor wasted in a thankless role. Here, he acquires a German accent and all, and it really doesn't suit him at all. There was a attempt to liven it up, but here DeNiro seemed ashamed of himself, and it showed in his delivery, though I did like the "Are You Talking To Me?" bit. Also the plot, it was a nice idea, but the pace was uneven, sometimes it dragged, and other times when it felt rushed. It is pretty much the same with the script, which could have been so much better, had it been more focused, as far too many times it went off target, particularly with the syrupy "romance" between Karen and the prison security guy. I felt also there could have been a little more of Rocky and Bullwinkle, and less of Boris and Natasha, though I liked the enthusiasm that Jason Alexander and Rene Russo put into the roles. There are comments saying that these two were chosen because they looked the part and that's it. I personally don't think that's true, because some of the funniest bits were with these two, especially the part when the computer falls on Boris's head. Piper Perabo was good also as Karen Sympathy(most of the jokes are in the characters' names), though she has been better. I really liked the girl in the eye, that is contradictory of her adult counterpart, which causes Rocky to say "There's something in your eye". There are some very good visual jokes, though lots of them are retreads of other films, and have been done better. I really liked Rocky and Bullwinkle- Bullinkle was funnier, when he says "...forgot the line," and I liked the aeroplane scene. The joy were the cameos by the likes of John Goodman and Whoopi Goldberg. In conclusion, a good film, but could have been much better, with better casting and more inspiration. 6/10 Bethany Cox