Robin Williams is a comedic genius, but this is one of his more forgettable films. He's an extraordinary talent, but his character in "Flubber" just lacks that charming, classic Robin Williams magic.
The antagonists are also quite lacking. There's a duo of two doofus goons, a derivative plot device used in almost every kids movie from the 90's. The standout villain is the guy who plays Shooter McGavin. I don't know his real name, but in this movie he steals the show by trying to pull up on Robin Williams's girl in typical Shooter McGavin style.
One notable scene is when Robin Williams throws an apple at the back of Shooter McGavin's head. The scene pays homage to several years prior when Robin Williams threw the lime at the back of Pierce Brosnan's head in "Mrs. Doubtfire".
Anyway, speaking of people getting hit in the head, you'll notice this is an overly recurring antic. Everyone keeps getting hit in the head with something: golf balls, bowling balls, basketballs, apples, punches, kicks, it just goes on and on. It was funny the first few times but after the 27th instance it becomes tiresome and lazy.
Overall "Flubber" is an unremarkable Robin Williams film. 5/10. Stick with "Mrs. Doubtfire" or "Happy Gilmore".
Flubber
1997
Action / Comedy / Family / Sci-Fi
Flubber
1997
Action / Comedy / Family / Sci-Fi
Plot summary
Professor Phillip Brainard, an absent minded professor, works with his assistant Weebo, trying to create a substance that's a new source of energy and that will save Medfield College where his sweetheart Sara is the president. He has missed his wedding twice, and on the afternoon of his third wedding, Professor Brainard creates flubber, which allows objects to fly through the air.
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April 27, 2022 at 02:24 PM
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"You're in big trouble though, pal. I eat pieces of **** like you for breakfast!"
Effects 10. Script 2.
Lots of gimmicky silly comedy mixed in with some good special effects but cliched characters who just armed enough to make a good film. This remake of the 1959 Disney classic is modernize so it looks like so many other films of the 90's that were better and more original. Even the opening skills from an older movie, the breakfast making scene of "Pee-wee's Big Adventure", with music by the same composer, Danny Elfman. Then there's the robot contraption that flies around, utilizing scenes of old films and TV shows to express a feeling. It's not really very original, and doesn't even gained many laughs.
Disney is still at Medville College, the fictional small campus of the original, and apparently there's no one around who remember what happened in 1959. Nutty professor Robin Williams has created this green goo that can do all sorts of miraculous things, even help there pitiful basketball team win games. It can make bowling and golf balls become lethal weapons, makes cars fly and is a great way for Williams to embarrass the heck out of his romantic rival, the nasty Christopher McDonald.
There's also a subplot involving obnoxious student Wil Wheaton whose father has basically paid for him to get a raise so he can get into Harvard later. These characters are so horrible to watch that even the home alone like villains who work for the father just aren't amusing. So many rip off gimmicks and little heart. Marcia Gay Harden is the college dean who's in love with Williams, accidentally stood up at the altar by him three times, and the one-dimensional McDonald is out to break them up.
There are a couple of great sequences, particularly when the flubber gets lose and flies around the area, crashing through windows and doing all sorts of neat tricks. But there's no real magic, because we know this is all CGI and manipulated rather than done with the same type of heart that the original Disney effects were done with. This really makes the film seems phony in so many ways and the actors are simply going through the stages while the computer does the rest. There's also a force manipulation with the pod like robot Reno voiced by Jodi Benson that serves the same purpose that Tinkerbell did in Peter Pan. A few magical moments get some Alapplause for me, but there's not enough magic to make me applaud for Rebo.