Movies 16 and 17

I watched a couple of movies with the kids yesterday. The first was Bean: The Movie. The youngest two kids were acting up so I put this on hoping they would at least enjoy Rowan Atkinson's funny faces. After all, they enjoyed Mr. Bean's Holiday multiple times. I know, I know, using the TV as a baby sitter, but I watched it with them and we all enjoyed it.

Growing up, my parents and siblings (well, at least my dad and brothers) were all Mr. Bean fans. We loved the show and Rowan Atkinson in general. I'm not sure how I missed this attempt to introduce Mr. Bean to the American masses. But in the end I don't think I missed much in waiting. It was enjoyable, with a lot of recycled Mr. Bean gags, but also a bit crude for the kids I was watching it with. And of course it was for an American audience, so Mr. Bean had to speak more than usual. And the plot needed to have the obligatory moral message shoehorned in, this one about families (not a bad thing, just un-Bean like). Mr. Bean's Holiday is a better movie to watch to capture the essence of Mr. Bean.

But even so, Bean is good for fans. Atkinson is at his bumbling best, and the supporting cast does its job well. Peter MacNicol was good as the straight man to Mr. Bean, and special mention needs to be made of Burt Reynold's cameo as the no-so-art-loving patron of the arts. And I laughed quite a bit. But some of the charm was lost due to what can only be described as the Americanization of Bean. And this is from someone who likes American The Office better than British The Office. Doesn't make it a bad movie, just less than what it could have been.

Last night we watched Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker. The boys have recently discovered the Alex Rider books, which I haven't really noticed before, and are enjoying them. So when I found this at the library, I knew we had a Family Movie Night pick.

Apparently, this was supposed to be he next big teen movie franchise, but it flopped. It played out like a James Bond film for a younger audience, and it was easy to tell where they were setting up potential recurring characters. Stephen Fry as the gadget guy comes to mind. Not having read the books, I can say it came off as just that, an inferior James Bond.

It is hard to put my finger on just why it wasn't that great. Certainly the lead, Alex Pettyfer, wasn't the best as Alex Rider. And if some of the stunts and jokes seemed forced and juvenile, well, it was aimed at a teen audience. The pieces just didn't seem to fit right. But the target audience, my boys, loved it. They were very disappointed to learn this movie was from 2006 and there was no sequel yet. I didn't have the heart to tell then there probably won't ever be a sequel.