Small Soldiers (1998) - Joe Dante

Synopsis:

Action figures are imbued with state of the art military micro-chips. War ensues. 

Small Soldiers is another late 90’s children’s flick with all the reminiscent qualities necessary to make it go down a treat, despite its apparent flaws. If anything a lot of the joy is just looking at how times have changed; the old school computers and dodgy haircuts are rife and that in its own right is enough to carry the film. However, something you would have expected to age has not; the visual effects.

They really are something to behold given the time. Often it was quite difficult to tell the difference between what was a real action figure and what was CGI. This kind of immersion is imperative for a film from this era of filmmaking as it allows it to remain relevant even today in an absolute ocean of cg heavy movies. Obviously the storytelling is fairly different but to be honest I think that there’s a certain gap left in today’s market which a film the likes of Toy Soldiers would certainly fill.

It’s charming, it’s exciting, it’s funny (Phil Hartman steals the show again) but primarily it’s for kids. The difference however is that the film has not been dumbed down. The case recently with children’s cinema has been to dumb down the threat factor, the only reprieve being found on the humour of the occasional animated feature. When you look at Toy Soldiers it can get pretty freaky. It’s filled with violent toys that shoot nail guns and fire flamethrowers at people, the twisted Frankenstein’s Monster-esque Gwendy dolls act like a hive of vicious insect overwhelming their targets. All these things help Small Soldiers remain an entertaining flick to this day.

Overview:

Small Soldiers isn’t perfect by any means but it still holds its own. I’d say it’s certainly better to sit your child down in front of this than some of the crap they’re being fed recently.

Rating:

★★★