A nasty woman named Carrigan (Cathy Moraity) and her goofy attorney Dibs (Eric Idle) seek a hidden treasure in an old Manor that was left to her by her deceased Father. However, the Mansion is haunted by Ghosts and Carrigan hires a paranormal therapist who's seeking for his deceased wife, Dr.Harvey (Bill Pullman) to get the ghosts out of the house. His daughter Kat (Christina Ricci) who's been constantly traveling with her Father, is sick of moving from town to town, and wants a place to settle down and make a new friend. She meets a ghost in the manor named Casper, who's all alone and just wants to have at least one friend. The two slowly form a friendship, as Kat tries to help Casper by bringing him back to life with a machine that's hidden deep within in the Manor, that was invented by Casper's Father. Meanwhile, Dr.Harvey tries to help Casper's Uncles with crossing over, but is sadly always being tormented by them. Oh, and I forgot to mention, Kat's throwing a Halloween party at the Manor, and Casper is jealous that Kat is dating a living teenager, who's secretly part of a sabotage plan for the party, with a popular stuck up girl. Man, this film is cramped with so much plot that you'd think this film would be a mess. In many respects, it kind of is, with things good and bad. What are the films hit and misses, ON WITH THE REVIEW!
Our main character Casper is just as cute, innocent, and likable as he is in the original cartoons. You feel bad for him when he can't make a friend because he's a ghost; he has some cute and humorous moments that are charming; and his personality is all around lovable. I also love how we slowly (As well as the character) learn about this his past of when he was alive; who his Father was; and how this young boy died, which is indeed very touching and emotional. The CGI for him and the rest of the Ghosts that appear in the movie, is really great and still surprisingly holds up just as well as it did in 1995. It's creative, it's fun, it's looks lifelike (if those are the right choice of words), and the film takes every advantage it can to make it look incredible. I guess the only problem I have with the character of Casper are two scenes. The scene when he pranks the kids in a classroom by tying their shoelaces together, and the scene when he scares the kids at the party by just saying "Boo". Some may argue that the first scene was just a childish prank, while the other scene shows that he's just happy with Kat as his friend, but I'm sorry, for a tormented friendly Ghost who just wants to fit in and make friends, these two scenes are really out of character. With that said, I still love the film's portrayal of this classic cartoon character, its just these two scenes really bug me, even as a kid!
Christina Ricci as Casper's friend (And love interest) Kat, gives a really great performance in this film. She's just as likable as Casper; her relationship with Casper is really fun, emotional, and touching; and her facial expressions and how she interacts with Casper looks very real and legit. You actually do believe that she's really interacting and having a relationship with this lonely Ghost, when in reality she's staring at nothing. Bill Pullman as Kat's Father also gives a great performance. He's funny; his performance and character have the same likability as our two leads; and I actually did find myself sympathizing with this character of missing and finding his dead Wife, along with Kat missing her as well. Without giving away the ending of what happens with Casper and Kat, and Dr.Harvey's search for his dead wife, I was overall very touched by the conclusions of these two plots.
Next we have Casper's Uncles The Ghostly Trio, who people seem to love or hate. Personally, I love them! First off, I think the film's adaptation of Casper's Uncles blows the original animated characters out of the water, by giving them their own fun and distinctive personality. Stretch is the intimidating leader; Stinky is the gross one; and Fatso (Voiced by Brad Garrett) is the fat one. These characters are so fun, so over the top, and enjoy their after life so much by scaring people and having fun, that they're the kind of Ghosts you'd love to hang out with, if you were one. Alright, most of the jokes that spew out of them are corny puns, forced Pop Culture references, and visual jokes that are just there as filler, and while I can see the average Critic roll their eyes and not laugh at them, I don't know, for me it's kind of like the humor in the first "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" movie. Half of it isn't funny, and it's mostly corny, forced and not needed, but the characters are so much fun, and the voice actors seem to be having a ball voicing them, that I couldn't help but be engaged to the amount of fun that the actors, the creators, and the characters themselves are having. Even the filler scenes like when the ghosts are melting; when Fatso pulls a prank on Dr.Harvey; and when the Ghosts fight against Dr.Harvey, are still fun, creative and entertaining, even if it doesn't flow with the story. Some or many would find them to be unfunny obnoxious characters, but personally, I love them.
One of the many things that I hear that people complain about the film, are the forced and pointless cameos, and much like how many people feel about the Ghostly Trio, I understand where they are coming from, but I personally don't mind them that much either. Ben Stein does a much better and funnier job in this film, than he did in the Sequels, and I always get a kick out of the appearance of the SNL character Father Guido. The mirror scene when Ghosts posse Dr.Harvey by making him change into celebrities, probably was just an excuse for pointless celebrity cameos, but I can't help but feel that the three celebrities that Harvey turns into, are the ghosts when they were alive. Clint Eastwood is Stretch because of his intimidation; Rodney Dangerfield is Fatso, due to the voice and humorous personality; and Mel Gibson is Stinky because Stinky who is ugly as a ghost, forgot how handsome he looked when he was alive, hence his reaction to when he sees himself alive. The only cameo that I felt was pointless and forced was Dan Aykrod's cameo as Ray Stantz from "Ghostbusters". The joke feels rushed; Dan Aykrod doesn't look interested in being in this film (Not to mention that he didn't even shave off his mustache); the fact that his character going solo, and can't take out three obnoxious ghosts after all the ghosts he's faced in the 2 movies, is disrespectful to the character; and for this film to connect to the "Ghostbusters" universe, kind of disturbs me. Aside from that one cameo, I really don't mind the rest.
Now for the two villains. The only excuse for having them in the movie is to give a reason for Dr.Harvey and Kat to visit the Manor, that's it. The whole hidden Treasure in the Manor subplot just feels forced, and the payoff is a bit disappointing. I will admit, I do enjoy Cathy Moriarty's performance as this beautiful cranky woman. I should also mention that she swears a lot in this film, along with many of the other characters, and instead of being played for laughs, it's really just there to get the PG rating. Eric Idle as her goofy attorney, while this isn't his funniest or greatest performance compared to what we know him best for, I thought he was at least entertaining, and at least tries and makes an attempt to make the little gags that the film gives him to be funny. By the way, what did happen to his character at the end of the film, did he die, or make a run for it? Anyway, while being a pointless and uninteresting set of villains, at least they were entertaining.
As if two villains weren't pointless enough, we get two more. Kat is being teased by a popular girl named Amber (Jessica Wesson), who uses her boyfriend Vic (Garette Ratliff Henson) as bait to help her somehow crash or sabotage Kat's Halloween party with a scary costume. I really don't follow this evil plan, and I think the majority of audiences won't be able to follow it either. What's the point in having these two bland extra villains, there's no point to having them in the film whatsoever. I like that the boyfriend is reluctant about this stuck up girl's stupid plan, but that's treated as a really small side note, that eventually gets ignored!
One of the many things that I appreciate what the film is trying to do, but sadly miserably fails at half of the time is its look on the after life. I like how the film discusses ghost as souls with unfinished business, which is why they can't crossover; I again love how Casper slowly remembers about his life when he was alive; but with that said, the film's logic either doesn't make sense, or goes against its own logic. Ghosts being made out of that "Tingly feeling when your foot falls asleep" is beyond stupid; the film establishes that ghosts can't hurt people, but apparently they can; Ghosts can fly through walls, but can get stuck in a regular vacuum bag; Ghosts are souls with unfinished business, but we never learn about Casper's Uncles unfinished business; and Casper's parents are dead, but Casper has never encountered them as Ghosts, especially considering the fact that his Father died with unfinished business. If your argument is he's still in the mental asylum, look at his Father's picture, look at Casper's toys, and listen to who his favorite baseball team is and tell me that he doesn't sound like that he didn't die in the early 21st century. One complaint I hear about the film's logic, that I do defend is, people questioning why Casper and his Uncles look like ghosts, while the other Ghosts have clothes and hair. Without giving too much away, I always figured (AND WITHOUT DISCUSSING THE SEQUELS LOGIC!) since Casper and his Uncles have been dead for so long, they became more and more ghostly as time went by, while the other people who became ghosts just died. Maybe its just a typical flaw, but I can't help but think about that logic every time I see this movie.
The sets for this movie are unbelievably cool. The Mansion looks awesome; the rooms inside the Mansion are creative and Gothic looking; and the details of making the Mansion look old and filthy are outstanding. Since Casper's Father was an inventor, I love the many inventions that we find in the Manor such as a Breakfast Machine (Even though it only does one thing); a Machine that can bring people back to life (Which in all honesty, doesn't make sense of how it works); and my favorite, a machine that can help you with all the things you need to do when you get up in the morning, such as brushing your teeth, shaving, showering, and so on. The film also brings a wonderful Halloween atmosphere with the decorations, the costumes, and having a Halloween Party in a Haunted Manor. Another thing I love about the film is the music. The music is so beautiful, emotional, and touching, that I always do find myself getting emotionally invested in the film, along with its emotional acting.
The film is no masterpiece or classic by any means, and does indeed have some major flaws, and things that will have audiences mixed, but with that said, I do indeed sense plenty of heart, effort, and passion put into the movie, even if the result is messy.
RATING 3/5
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