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Review:
Director W.D. Richter's, THE ADVENTURES OF BUCKAROO BANZAI, is sort
of hip, and kind of cool, but really isn't as good as it could be.
It certainly starts out well enough. The opening credit graphics, and
Music by Michael Boddicker, set a rousing tone for a grand, comic book
style adventure.
An opening story background "crawl", ala "Star Wars"
lets us know about Buckaroo, played by Peter Weller, ("Robocop"),
and his mixed background, (U.S. father, Japanese mother), his varied
interests, (neurosurgery, martial arts, particle physics), and the fact
that he makes music with his off beat friends, those "hard rocking
scientists, The Hong Kong Cavaliers".
Without wasting time, Director Richter plunges into the action. At the
salt flats, team Banzai prepares to launch its rocket car. The problem
is, of' Buckaroo is not present and accounted for. That's 'cause multitalented
Buckaroo, (Weller), is busy recruiting Jeff Goldblum, ("Jurassic
Park"), a top surgeon, who is performing an operation. After asking
Goldblum to join his group, Weller inquires, "Can you sing?"
Goldblum responds, "A little... I can dance."
Soon Weller, dressed in a black, Ninja-style firesuit shows up at the
salt flats. When Weller gets in the jet car, the film really takes off,
literally and figuratively. When Weller goes off course, it appears
he's going to slam right into a mountain. Instead, a blue beam from
the jet car zaps the mountain, and then the jet car goes into the mountain.
Instead of crashing, it enters a weird 8th dimension. We see a strange
landscape, and unusual creatures, some human-like, some not. Soon, Weller
and his jet car come out the other side of the mountain, unharmed. In
this sequence, Richter and Director of Photography, Fred J. Koenekamp,
really delivers the Sci-Fi excitement goods. This is my favorite scene
in the film.
Unfortunately, the rest of the movie never again reaches this level
of fun and entertainment. The rest of the a film is a mishmash of aliens,
a mad scientist, (John"Cliffhanger" Lithgow at his most excessive)
and a "lost soul" girl named Penny, played by Ellen Barkin,
("Sea of Love"), in an early, non-impressive performance.
The main problems lie with the Screenplay by Earl Mac Rauch. His biggest
mistake is that darn jet car sequence. The much acclaimed film "Bullitt"
has its famous chase scene well into the film, which makes it all the
more satisfying when it arrives. By contrast, THE ADVENTURES OF BUCKAROO
BANZAI by having it's exciting jet car sequence first, gives filmmaker
Richter nowhere to go but down.
Another problem is the Hong Kong Cavaliers themselves. Other than Jeff
Goldblum, they are a faceless lot, not very well fleshed out, and with
little to do. Weller, as Buckaroo, is the whole show, and the rest seem
like a Superstar's hangers on: perhaps important to him, but not interesting
to the viewer.
THE ADVENTURES OF BUCKAROO BANZAI is like a Chinese dinner: an hour
later you're hungry for a more substantial film. All you remember is
the opening jet car scene and the cool music.
THE ADVENTURES OF BUCKAROO BANZAI should be watchable for both undemanding
Sci-Fi fans and the small fry, who may get a kick out of the aliens.
Banzai!
MovieMonday.com
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