The Kingston Whig-Standard from Kingston, Ontario, Canada • 27

FRIDAY JUNE SO 2000 2f -I- 1 f- J' -4- IfM THE KLNWsTUN WHJG'MAINDAKD i i i rrf i ENTERTAINMENT Mum mem mtatua warn MW PUCYMW CHECK TNMnEDMBCTOnY FOR flHOWTMEl MMN UMMIMA MW OMWO 0OMJPWM OONIMl IwBBBW NOT MOOMMMMft NR VOIMI QNUMN BRIUIANOHE YEARS FUNNIEST erf the world from the evil Foariou Loader Boric and Natatha Karon Sympathy (PlporPorabo) fame up with Rocky and BuHwtnkh to i thwart Rocky and Bullwinkle Including using a Computer Degenerating Image laptop Fonts the small satellite dish attached to the laptop on your next victim and the cartoon character is sent zipping off forever It should be a lot more enjoyable than it is While nothing here likely to offend or trouble the very young neither is there much to keep them all that interested There are a half-dozen or so cameo appearances from the likes of Carl Reina David Alan Grim Jonathan Williams Whoopi Goldberg Billy Crystal and John Goodman They add significantly to the goings on Director Des McAnuff somehow never sets the frantic kind of pace required With Cousin Bette on his resume as director and The Iron Giant as producer clear that McAnuff can make sharp smartly constructed movies And he does it here too But only fin-half foe time packed in at the beginning and then writing and direction hit a wall of indifference Even the performances which had seemed so clever in the first half-hom become repetitive By Minute 40 find yourself wondering where the ftm went The plot if what there is here has Fearless Leader scheming to overthrow US Presi- dent Signoff by taking over all available cable channels and turning them into RBTV Really Bad Television If you watch it too long com-: plete zombification occurs and Fearless Leader can take charge of of blank-eyed sheep prepared to do his bidding 1 FBI agent Karen Sympathy (Piper Ferabo) is assigned to the case and her only hope is to somehow get Rocky and Bullwinkle to New York in time to foil the dastardly Fearless Leader 1 Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale two of Fbarless flunkies will do anything to The of Rocky A TribKaProductionplayingat Cineplex Odeon directed BvDes written BY-Kenneth LEADER natasha boob KARKN8YMBATHY Rating By Mare Horton EDMONTON Southam Newspaper The Adventures of Rocky and Buuwinkix is inspired silly laugh-out-loud flmny and Inventive We're given a seamless blend of live action and animation in the best example of cartoon characters interacting with human actors since the celebrated Who Killed Roger Rabbit? Furthermore there are a couple of sharp observations about the mindlessness of televi-sion and by extension modem movies toa The performances are everything they should be: Jason Alexander is a perfectly dead-on Boris Rene Russo is a perfectly deadpan Natasha and Robert De Niro makes for a superbly egomanlacal Fearless Leader It's brilliant stuff For 35 minutes Unfortunately the film has another 55 minutes to run and the drop in the number of laughs interest level and wit is as steep as erne of those cliffs over which Wile Coyote plunges Even the puns for which this particular cartoon moose and his flying squirrel Bidekick are fhmous lose most of their goofy charm 1 i The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle is an unbalanced film where the good stuff is Adventures and Bullwinkle McAnuff Lonergan -CAST''''-FEAKLES8 Robert DeNiro Rene Russo Jason Alexander Piper Bsmbo (out of five) i ft Sri JMBMg WMIMaWUNHIM viemm tsMmmBMBumK -Jp "tnigiiflHiiNr nmimanm Th-: now PLAYinQt CHBXTKfflEHEITOff nx some 555 2S5jJ i i i 1 5'- A 3 rv T7 ff t' I1 -v i-'V i 1 v' The New Cineplex Odeon Gardiners Road Cinemas Now Open Enjoy an inciting now theatre atmosphere treated to bring yoo the ultimata movie ixperiinco You'll lovo our cafis that foaturo mil hinds of groat things to oat including frozen trouts and an incrodibli soloction of coffees and snacks Thin foil tfao movies como to lifo in our big comfy high-back seats and stadium sooting Ton giant wall-to-wall curvod strains bring you closer than aver to all the movie magic and amazing digital sound roally brings tho movies to lifo This now thoatro wasn't just designed to show you the movies it was made to got you into thorn like never before CINEPLEX ODEON CINEMAS EXPERIENCE SHOWS Tl INEpltJLOOEON GAROINtRi ROAOJINEMAiAUHJLRIO(ANlENIRti6mi34JlSJwwwitineple)( JCO MW.